Renaissance of a Raven
by Seth-Cypher
Summary: Sequel of Scars from the Past. Three lives will intertwine with eachother, searching for answers of their own. R&R Please! Chapter 12 updated!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own AC, but I do own the characters here.

This is the sequel to "Scars from the Past". It takes place after Last Raven so many things may be spoilers to you guys. Enjoy!

Prologue

In the past months, Vertex and Alliance began their clash through large scaled wars. Their claim for power ravaged the resources. Countless Ravens died in battle, in the final battle both leaders of Vertex and Alliance died in the valiant attempt to destroy the Pulverizer technology that threatened to cleanse Earth of its inhabitance. In the end, only one Raven survived the onslaught. She was an ex-Raven, supposedly lost already. Her past experiences and skills of piloting an AC gave her the key to survival. The female Raven, however, would not let the name of Ravens be extinguished. She created a new fold, called the Neo Ark. A new era for Ravens had begun. Mirage and Crest were the only remains of corporations left. Kisaragi had renewed itself as a key supporter of Neo Ark. Mirage and Crest, however involved they were in the past catastrophes, still intended to wage battles against one another. Their disputes gave Neo Ark more than enough profit to stay up and running. Fourteen years later, a mysterious group that called themselves Zeal. Zeal was small, but seemed to have numerous information, including that on ancient technology which gave them an edge. Ever since Zeal entered the battle, it seemed the corporation's powers were beginning to diminish as Zeal always interfered with Mirage and Crest engagements, decimating their forces with little losses. In a desperate attempt to save their remaining forces, the corporations had no choice but to work together, increasing their forces. Hence, the new reborn corporation called Sphere was born. A corporation whose technology is a fusion between Crest and Mirage. Unfortunately for the new and reborn Sphere, Zeal had plenty of secrets. Secrets that would eventually be revealed to Sphere which could possibly annihilate them. As Zeal continued their advancement, more and more Sphere forces were destroyed. Sphere had no choice but to call in Ravens from Neo Ark in desperation to halt Zeal's advancement. Having had suffered several losses to the Ravens, Zeal had been pushed back enough for Sphere to regain its footing. A climatic battle erupted in between Raven and Zeal forces in the remains of Bayload City, inflicting a direct blow to Zeal, exhausting their remaining resources. However, Zeal had no intention of retreating, or stopping its advancement. It was here that they would reveal their true intents and dark secrets.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Rising of the Curtains

The boy stumbled out of his cockpit, dazed and a bit pale. He hung over the railing which was situated right in front of his ACs cockpit. His short brown hair fell around his face as he covered his mouth. The bright red long sleeved jacket that he wore, bore the Neo Ark emblem on its back, a Raven spreading its wings with oval rings encircling behind it. Luckily for him, regurgitation wasn't beyond his control. His dark blue eyes looked plainly on the ground, the energy was drained from his whole being. His legs wobbled, ready to give way to the gravitation that pulled on them, along with the pitch black slacks he wore. The young boy pulled his head up suddenly and started yelling, "You didn't have to freakin swing the AC around like that!"

"Jayden, you'll never survive the next match if you keep piloting your AC like that," A soft voice called out to him. The boy who was called Jayden turned towards the voice. The figure that approached Jayden was bathed in an angelic light. Dark brown hair flowed along the curvacious figure. A slender figure in a pilot suit with its fist balled up and placed in the hips was propped beside Jayden. Jayden looked up at the slightly tanned features of the female with her serene violet eyes.

"That was...a little extreme...don't you think?" He looked blandly at the female, the color drained from his face. The girl smiled, a child like light played across her face.

"Maybe..." The girl had a slight mischeivious tone in her voice and smiled with satisfaction.

"Jen! I wanted practice! Not a slaughter!" Jayden jolted upright and yelled, still trying to suppress the lunch he had ate a couple minutes ago.

"Well, it depends on how you look at it doesn't it?" Jen winked at him, still maintaining her playful attitude. "Hey, come on. I'll make it up to you. How about a drink?" She straightened him up, her hands running along his chest and his shoulders. Jayden found himself relaxing, the awful feeling he had in his stomach was gone at her touch.

"Alright..." They proceeded out of the garage, Jen's arms were now loosely wrapped around Jaydens neck. He was a rarity among Ravens. His name was Jayden Cypher, his name was more well known than that of the current Ninebreaker. It wasn't because he was the best of the best. In fact he had no skills in piloting ACs. In the many months he had spent in Neo Ark, he had only won four matches and probably lost five times as much. His mission success rate wasn't that high either, if he took any missions at all. His friend, Jen, had been with him since he joined Neo Ark. When they first met, Jen had to slap him to his senses because he was spacing out a bit. She was a nice girl and most of the times Jayden found himself staring at her figure. But her kindness was also in conflict with the fun she had torturing Jayden when they had practice in the test arena. Other than that, they were close, almost a couple. They had taken all their missions together and made a vow to eachother that it would stay that way. Although, Jayden never realized, he was the dense type who never gave much thought or realized he had a special gift with women. What's more, he was deeply immersed in AC mechanics, knowledgable in physics and all. Probably why his repair costs were never that high. He was a good two inches higher than Jen. They went down into the hallway where a vending machine was located. Thumping sounds could be heard as the can of pop made its way down to the open slot. Jayden reached in with his hands, feeling the cool metal can around his fingers. He slipped his fingers around the top of the pop can and popped it open, a hissing sound could be heard as the pop inside fizzed up. The Raven took a big gulp from the can before talking to his female companion. "So, what are we up to this time?"

Jen still wore her white pilot suit, sitting cross legged on the couch that lay next to the vending machine. Her brown hair tumbled down in front of her shoulders, almost painting a halo around her face. "Well, I've just accepted an important assignment from the administrator herself."

"From the administrator? We haven't had something like that in a long time." Jayden raised his eyebrow, a mixture of curiosity and surprise was in his words.

"Yeah, I know! Anyways, we're supposed to infiltrate a Zeal warehouse. Supposedly, theres supposed to be a secret weapon that Zeal is storing in it."

"Right, sounds easy enough, whats the success rate of the missions and where the heck is it?" He continued to put the pop can up to his mouth, making large gulping sounds.

"Its located in the Terrace Desert. Its a small base that was recently developed by Zeal, but its grown pretty fast. Security there is really tight, an estimation of fourty ACs are stationed there." Hearing these words Jayden could not help but choke on his drink. He quickly turned his face to the side and spat out all the fizzing substance. Jen seemed startled and took a step backwards.

"Fourty ACs! What the hell! Are you crazy! You'll get us both killed!" He almost screamed. Jen only giggled in response to his actions, a little amused by the way he acted.

"Oh come on! It can't be that bad. I mean, only a couple of ACs, and we can also see the new project that Zeal has been working on, maybe we could even use it! YOU could use it to cut all your losses!", It was apparant that the female was excited about the mission, like a little child on christmas eve. There was glee in her voice and a slight glint of excitement in her eyes.

"Hell no! Besides, I have an arena match coming up. I can't just fool around with random missions." Jayden scoffed as he threw the empty pop can into the cylindrical garbage container that stood beside the couch. Jen had no choice but to plead, she walked closer to Jayden with her head looking up at him.

"Please," She was giving him the puppy dog eyes, "Do it for me, the arena match isn't until next week! You'll have plenty of time. Pretty please!"

_Hell no!I won't do it!_ Jayden hesitated for a moment. His mind was set, but the response he found himself saying was shocking even to himself, "I'll do it!"

"Yes! Your the best Jayden! Thank you so much!" She slung her arms around his neck tightly. Heat began to rise up in the male's body as he blushed a bit.

_No! Crap! What the hell did I say that for! Why! Why! Why!_ The Raven found himself angry at himself at having a disability to saying "no" to women. He also felt like hitting his head against the wall so that he would have an excuse not to go.

A man layed down against the chair, his arms folded up behind his head. The wind which rocked the ship blew past his pure white hair. His skin was quite pale, and he wore pitch black sunglasses beneath the blazing sun. His black dress shirt ruffled through the wind as well as his black jeans. Light footsteps could be heard approaching him. The light thumping stopped when it was loudest and next to him, next came an abrupt voice that stirred the calmness of the environment. "Scion! Shouldn't you be preparing for the docking!" Scion looked up, lifting his shades so that they rested on his forehead. Upon lifting the glasses, his eyes were revealed to be a erie emerald green that glowed strangely. Beside him was a small feminine figure. A form with golden hair flowing down to her shoulders and shining in the sunlight. The right side of her hair was hooked behind her ear. The smooth skin that ran along her figure was slightly tanned, contrasting with her light blue eyes. She was wearing a blue and white striped dress shirt with rolled up sleeves which was unbuttoned and a white tank top on the inside. They fit well with the tight blue jeans that she wore. Scion smirked a bit before replying to the newcomer.

"Hey Beatrice! What's up?" He said in a rather eased manner.

"What's up! Your supposed to be getting ready for docking!" She placed both hands on her hips noting a dissatisfied mood.

"Hm? Well, we still have a couple hours before we arrive at the destination. So..." He placed his shades over his eyes once again and rested his head on the chair. "...I'm just going to relax here a bit."

Beatrice let off a sigh of irritation, "Honestly! Your supposed to be the captain! Not the slacker! You act more like a child than I do!" It wasn't apparent if Scion was angry at the remark. He always responded gently, Beatrice never knew why he was made captain. She had never even seen him pilot his machine before. There was also the rumor that he had been promoted to captain only in a month. He was a strange man, said to have been found by Zeal instead of volunteering himself. His past was a mystery, in fact, everytime she asked him anything about his personal past, he would always answer with a "I don't know," or "I don't remember" phrase.

"Learn to relax a bit will ya? Its the middle of the ocean and what are ya gonna-!" A sudden lurching of the large carrier cut Scion off from his next word. Beatrice tried to steady her footing while Scion lay in a half falling position on his chair.

"What the hell was that!" Beatrice screamed. Her captain slowly got up and dusted his black attire off. Adjusting his shades a bit, he turned to his startled companion.

"Feels like..." Another great lurching of the entire ship caused both figures to stumbled, more from Scion whose shades fell off right beside Beatrices feat. Within all the chaos, Beatrice had been stepping everywhere trying to steady herself. She had not noticed the loud crack that emanated from beneath her feat. "Awwwww, crap...that's the seventh one this month!" A man with rough features who wore a white suit and a white cap addressed Scion as he mourned over the remains of his shattered glasses.

"Sir, its a Sphere ship! They opened fire on us without warning! Should we retaliate?" The man saluted.

"To hell no! First they ruin my vacation and then they break my shades! That's sacrilige, I'll deal with them personally!"


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An Omen of Purity

Jayden pressed his back against the cold wall behind him, overhearing the voices that seemed very close by. Two men dressed in army wear were conversing with eachother. The topic they were discussing peaked Jayden's interest. "...yeah, but if Sphere plans to attack us full on...I don't think they stand a chance, at least, not with what we have." One voice was gruff and almost a growl. The other was that of an unsure person, probably a new cadet from the way he talked.

"Yeah, no doubt about it. B-but, do you think its safe to use that thing! It really gives me the creeps just staring at it." The fear was prominent in the soldier's voice.

"No worries! If there happens to be any trouble with it section B will be held responsible. We're just here to check things out remember?" The rough soldier smirked.

"R-right! But I'm still not sure...I mean, I'm pretty confident that we can annihilate Sphere...but...I feel as though something is going to happen or something."

"Well, we're done for the night. The special unit in warehouse thirty-five is fine. I think its about time we take a break...don't you?"

"Alright! Lunch time! I'm starving!" The two men had not noticed a the Raven eavesdrop on their conversation. He hid behind a wall that lay just up the hallway. The footsteps of the soldiers began to vanish, the thumping on the ground continued to soften until nothing could be heard.

_Hehe...warehouse thirty-five. Got it! That's just up the hallway! Sweetness! This mission was easier than I thought!_ It was strange, there were no guards at the posts, not even in the rooms. Even though the hallways were illuminated with bright lights, it still felt like an empty corridor. Jayden proceeded to open the door that led to the warehouse he intended to go to. Upon opening the door, Jayden could tell that no one seemed to be occupying the warehouse. There were no footsteps, and it was too bright on the inside for snipers to properly station their rifles without being noticed. After checking his surroundings, Jayden quickly realized one thing. His target was right in front of him, within arms length to be precise. Staggering back a little from awe, shock and a bit of fear, Jayden took a glance at the tall entity that stood before him behind the railing. A demonic form, with a demon like head, covered in pure white. The smooth armor of the figure was only constantly interrupted by small crevices in between them, the crevices were part of the design itself. Decorated by its wing-like extensions that seemed to be part of its shoulders, it was an intimidating sight to behold. Wide eyed youth could only stare at the godly figure before him. He swallowed hard, This thing is Zeal's! What the hell is it! Jayden walked forward, his guard was still up for any ambush that might occur. He continued forward towards the white entity, extending his arm out and touching the smooth armor. _I've never seen this type of metal before...just touching the texture of it, I can tell that its harder than any metal covering our ACs!_ Looking to his left, Jayden noticed the cockpit had been left open. Sweetness_! I hit the jackpot this time!_ Jayden resisted the urge to laugh out loud and straightened up his composure. _Okay! Calm down. We're not out of this yet...but man is this ever so sweet!_ Quickly jumping into the cockpit, the door closed in behind him. With a clear mind and insightful eyes, he checked the modules and systems of the machine. All the controls in the cockpit were familiar to him. However, this was strange as the controls inside were much different than the ones in the ACs. A quick glance at the controls and fingering of buttons wasall it took to illuminate the screens in front of him. _But...how do I know all these controls? I've never even seen any of them._ Suddenly the whole being came to life, its evil eyes suddenly emitted an erie blue glow, the crevices within its armor lit up with the same blue glow.

Scion's right arm tensed up a bit, he glanced around the deck for anything unusual. His white hair ruffled against the winds that blew past him. Only the sound of ocean currents could be heard in the bright summer day. His strange emerald eyes glanced from one end of the ship to the other. _This aura...it seems familiar..._An abrupt voice addressing him stirred him from his thoughts.

"Is something wrong, Captain?" Scion turned around, his white hair moving along the air. It was Beatrice who had called him. He replied to her question with a gentle smile.

"It seems we'll be meeting an unexpected guest very soon..."

Her dark brown hair lay tumbled in front of her shoulders, it reached down to her waist. Her bangs would get in her eyes every so often, and she would hook them out of the way. Jen sat in the rugged cockpit of her AC, Haven. _I'm getting a little worried, Jayden's been in there for sometime now...wonder what's keeping him?_ Haven was a lightweight blader, using a parry blade and the new ELF3 to great effect. Tinted with light purple all around, it did not seem intimidating at first but using the combinations of parry blades, laser blades and the dual rockets that were placed on the back of Haven had made Jen one of the top rankers. She was one of the most skilled Ravens. She had been waiting impatiently in her cockpit for well over two hours for her companion. Haven stood by a cliff side that hid the small Zeal base still in construction. Her body was beginning to fall asleep a bit. _Ugh...if that guy doesn't show up right now I swear I'll-! _An abrupt explosion from one of the warehouses had caught her attention. ACs tinted with crimson and blue that surrounded the area like little ants by an ant hill were alarmed by the sudden commotion. Once of the warehouses seemed to have burst into flames, engulfed by searing red fire and a curtain of grey smoke. Within the fires, an ominous shadow seemed to walk out of the smoke. Glaring blue eyes, would constantly pulsate with erie blue energy. A white entity, similar to the form of a large demon stepped out of the fire. A long rifle was holstered onto its right hip which reached down and almost touched the ground. _What the heck is that! Is that the secret project that Zeal was working on!_ Jen stared at the new machine that stood at the base below her. Her eyes were only wide with disbelief with shock. One of the crimson-blue ACs that guarded the tiny base immediately boosted straight towards the demonic form, its LB4 was already extended. The blade weaved a long focused thread in the air. Charging at the new entity, the AC slashed with its laser blade, only to have missed. The white machine ducked slightly, letting the erie blue beam barely miss the top of its demonic head. In response the machine pulled its right arm back, the blade which was folded up behind its elbow suddenly switched forward, emitting a ghostly aura in its presence. The blade arm suddenly jolted forward, plunging the blade into its opponent's core. With only seconds to react to the counterattack, the crimson-blue AC could not avoid the blow in time. It was quickly consumed by hellfire as it exploded, diminishing into nothing but scrap metal.

_How did I just do that! _The young pilot's chest heaved up and down, a bit startled from what he just did. _I just jumped into the cockpit and it was like I knew all the buttons. But that's impossible! AC controls are nothing like this!_ Another one of the crimson-blue ACs approached the monstrous being, its SP shotgun now raised and pointing at Jayden's machine. Small spurts of clustered shells sped at the white demon. With a slight white flickering in its boosters and a hop to the side, the white machine evaded the shotgun bursts easily and countered by speeding forward. The startled AC tried to defend itself by slashing its TAROS dual-blade but the demon-like mech had reacted faster and jabbed its arm blade into the WASP head unit of the AC. The force sent the headless AC downwards, crashing into the hard cement. Grabbing the rifle that was holstered on its hip, the machine quickly pointed its linear rifle and blew a hole right through the core of the helpless AC. _D-did I just do that!_ Jayden was shocked, he had never even pushed an AC backwards.

"Jayden! Is that you?" A slender light-purple AC came flying towards him, destroying every AC with its parryblade and ELF3 that got in its way.

"Yeah, this is me. I've got the machine!" He spoke with a smile.

"Alright then let's get out of here now! Before reinforcements come!" The army of crimson-blue ACs only watched from afar as the light purple AC and the demonic white entity made their way out of the base. One of the lighter weights stepped forward, about to follow them. An abrupt gruff and booming stopped the AC pilot from moving his AC any further.

"Wait! Do not engage!"

"But sir-!"

"We don't want to damage the machine, and we wouldn't be able to stand up to it anyways...let the elites handle this one. We'll secure the base."

"Y-yes sir!" The soldier stuttered.

A woman with raven-black that glistened through the sunlight. She stacked the pile of papers laying on the desk while the LCD television set flickered at the side. She sighed, staring at the papers with her light blue eyes. Her slender and pale fingers held onto the papers delicately. _Its been nothing but paperwork all week!_

"...reports indicate that a large shipwreck has been sighted out at sea..." The report caught the woman's attention as she glanced at the television that was propped on a table near her desk. Inside the image, was a silver ship. It was silver at least, charred marks could be seen all over it and large indented scratch marks were engraved in its hull. It was like looking at the after math of a disaster zone. Metal scraps, crates and all sorts of items were scattered on the waters. The ship itself was in pieces, in fact, half of it was gone. The other half that remained was turned on its hull, the insides of it was melted. There was no sign of life, and even more signs that no life could have existed. AC limbs floated above the ocean, some of which were still attached, others seemed to have been torn off of the body and thrown overboard. Dead bodies of pilots or sailors were littered the insides of the ship. It was apparant that this was more than just a disaster zone. Not even a cyclone could do this to a carrier. " Judging by the style and size and equipment of the ship, it was apparantly a Sphere ship. The main question of course is what could have done this to a Sphere battle cruiser? It is true that Zeal has been in opposition with Sphere for a long time. However, it has never shown anything that amounts as much to this disaster. Just what could have possibly wreaked so much havoc on a Sphere battle cruiser? A surviving man from the chaos that insued has been hospitalized, doctors report that his wounds are not the problem. They say that the major problem is coming from his mind, a dilema of some sort..." The female voice seemed to dissipate, the woman who watched the news shut her mind off, wandering through her thoughts.

_What could have done that! Zeal has no weapon that could split an entire carrier in half!_

The receptionist at the desk was wearing a cap with an earpiece stuck in her left hear and a mouth piece curling down to meet her mouth. A young man, noticeably in his thirties, approached the desk with his pure white hair swaying back and forth. He wore pitch black clothing from top to bottom and had a navy blue jacket slung across his shoulder. The man was also followed by a girl with golden hair that reached down to her shoulders. She was a good few inches smaller than the man. "Hello, we're here to see Vega." The man said, a gentle smile played across his face.

"Lord Vega is currently at an important meeting. May I ask who you are and what you're business is with Lord Vega?" The receptionist asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh, I'm Scion and this is Beatrice Armstrong...a student of mine." The girl with blonde hair glared at the back of Scion's head. He had not taken notice and continued to smile gently at the receptionist.

"Oh yes! Can you please wait for awhile? You're quaters are down the hall, room thirty-six." The receptionist held out a key to Scion, it was gold and glinted brightly in the sunlight that came through the windows. Scion grabbed the golden key and placed it in his pant pockets.

"Thanks." He said, smiling once again.

"I'm surprised though...you're a bit late."

"Oh, heh...we had a slight derailing...nothing I couldn't handle though..."


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own AC, only the characters.

XDarkmasterX: I came up with the AC from looking at a blend between Jehuty from ZOE and Eva01 from Evangelion. If you read Scars from the Past, I did describe it as a demonic machine.

Everyone who has read: Thank you for reviewing my past and present work. I will continue my work to my best and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter 3: The First Phantasm

Wearing his standard uniform, a navy long sleeved jacket that was painted white on the inside half. It suited well with the man's medium pure white hair. Scion walked down the hallway with his hands in his jacket pockets. He was followed by the blonde Beatrice, who wore an unbuttoned blue checker dress shirt and a green shirt on the inside. She was constantly hooking the right side of her hair behind her ear. Scion was strolling down the hallway slowly. Obviously, Beatrice wasn't too pleased at the pace they were walking at. "Can't you walk any faster you slow poke!" It was quite clear from the frustrated tone in her voice that she knew there would be no backlash from her remark.

"Relax," he raised his right hand from his pocket, gently into the air without so much as turning to look at his follower. "Theres no need to hurry. We've got all day!"

"WE don't have all day! We were sent here by HQ to assist in the assault forces! Remember!" She fumed, poking furiously at the small black watch on her right arm. Scion only chuckled at her reaction.

"We need to report to Vega first though..." He swiveled around and turned to Beatrice, "Alright, why don't you go get something to eat or drink? We'll meet tomorrow at the main lobby. I've got some private stuff to report to Vega."

"Tomorrow! Why not now!" She snapped.

"I'm a bit tired. I'm sure you are as well. Let's get some good rest, then we'll see what we can do tomorrow okay?" The superior smiled gently. Beatrice was not quite happy with his response, but had no choice but to oblige. First, he was her superior and tutor, second, he shoved her in the opposite direction. After seeing Beatrice's figure vanish through the long corridors, Scion turned around, proceeding down the hall as he had before. _Now...for the matter at hand._

Jayden jumped down from the mech's cockpit, the machine was in a kneeling position. It's white armor glimmered through the sunlight that struck through the opened garage doors. The demonic form seemed asleep, the erie blue light no longer pulsating on its armor or in it's eyes. Beside it, knelt another figure, one of light purple color and a thin-slender build. Jen made her way towards Jayden, who was standing in front of the white entity now. Her brown hair, which flowed down towards the back of her waist and her thin bangs had a messy style to them. It made her all the more beautiful though. "Jayden! I've called the administrator! She'll be here any moment!" Jen yelled with glee, a tinge of excitement and the same glint in her eye before they had left for the mission.

"Y-you called the administrator! Why!" Jayden yelled, fortunately, the garge was empty at the moment. Most of the Ravens had left today at the request of Sphere for a large assault. Nothing of the sort had been ever requested by Sphere at all. It was to be the ultimate assault on the Delphi Dock that would crush Zeal once and for all. Delphi Dock was the main storage base for Zeal's ammunition and supplies for their military, if it was destroyed, then Zeal would have been badly crippled to a state of no return. It would request a majority of Ravens for the assault, surely the dock would be heavily fortified, a main reason why Jayden didn't take it.

"Why? What's wrong? The administrator was the one who requested this mission so she should be informed as-," Jen was cut off from Jayden's fuming. He was a bit enraged, and afraid at the same time.

"You don't what she'll do if she finds out! She'll absolutely-!" Jayden was also cut off, ironically, by the one voice he didn't want to hear. 

"Jayden Cypher! What in gods name are you doing here!" A women wearing a long sleeved black coat approached them. Her black hair and black coat waved through the air as she walked. Her long white skirt would flow with the movement of her legs as she took each step closer. Her pale skin and light blue eyes would match her clothes and hair. Usually, she would wear a kind and gentle face. However, at the moment, her face was nothing of the sort. It was more like the face of someone angry enough to slap someone. "You were supposed to be at the-!" The woman's eyes widened as she layed her eyes on the large object that knelt right next to Jayden. She covered her mouth with her hands, her face went even more pale, if that was possible. It was as if her fury had suddenly vanished, replaced by eyes that seemed like they were about to burst into tears. Jayden took notice of the distress of the newcomer, immediately showing his concern with a simple question.

"What's wrong? D-did I do something wrong?" He was a bit worried, and afraid by the woman's reaction.

"This machine...where did you get it, Jayden!" She was still covering her mouth, her eyes glistening in the sunlight.

"I got it at a Zeal base near-" He was cut off as the woman pushed him aside, making her way towards the machine's opened cockpit. Inside, the cockpit, the woman punched a couple buttons, as if knowing where everything was.

_Could it be! Please! Please! Let it be! _The hopeful words ran in her mind as words came flashing across the display screens.

"IDENTIFICATION: #5. NAME IDENTIFICATION: NEO OMEN. PRODUCTION DATE: RECENTLY DEVELOPED IN 0017 AC(After Crisis). PRODUCTION TYPE: EXPERIMENTAL COPY OF ORIGINAL."

_Oh...it's not...but...if this is the copy...then where is the original? Someone must have dug up the original Omen and extracted data from it...or...could it be something else?_ The woman's face was dark, the shadows were only emphisized by the lights coming from the display screens.

"Hahaha! Zeal doesn't know when to quite do they?" A pilot of a heavyweight AC with its dual machineguns blazing the warehouses surrounding it, shouted through the communications.

"Their persistent...I'll give em that..." Another pilot replied, pulling out its ELF3 blade from a dead mechanical corpse. The field was laydon with mechanical corpses...like a cyber cemetary. Many MTs, with their laser barrel gun arms were taking slow steps backwards while firing stray shots at anything that moved.

"W-we can't hold them off any longer! They're crushing us!" One of the MT pilots screamed.

"Heh, I'll give you something to hold off!" With its ELF3, the lighter-weight AC prepared to slice one of the MTs in half.

"Gaaaaahhhh!" The MT pilot yelled, covering his head with his arms, expecting a deathly explosion. It never came, all he could hear was clanking of metal. Looking up to see what had happened, the pilot could see a horrid image before him. An entity unlike any he had ever seen before, stood before him with it's back turned to him. It held two objects in its clawed hands. In its right hand was the head unit of the AC that was about to attack him, wires still stuck out of the head like entrails coming out of ordinary human flesh. In it's left hand, it held the headless mechanical body of the AC by the collar. The black machine that saved his life, was pitch black and had glaring red eyes, making it seem as though it were a shadow itself. Crevices that were engraved perfectly into the armor emitted the same red energy. "R-reinforcements!" The MT pilot was a bit shaken up, not knowing whether to be thankful his life was saved, or afraid of something that resembled so much of the demon itself.

"Get out of here...I'll handle these impudent punks..." An icy, malicious voice ordered. The message had been sent to all MTs, as they retreated to a safe distance. Alert of it's fallen comrade, the heavyweight machinegunner turned towards the new machine.

"Damn you! You'll pay for that!" Raising both its machineguns, the AC let off a full volley of raining hell. The black demon stepped to the side, smoothly and in a humane manner. It suddenly boosted forward, the flickering white light pushing it forwards. The heavyweight saw this and immediately adjusted its aim to counter the machine's movement. Unfortunately, the black mech boost strafed to the right with high speed. It lunged forth with it's right hand in a claw-like position and grabbed the startled AC by its neck, lifting it off of the ground with ease.

"I shall show you what the darkness truly is!" A malcious voice said, a slight joy was in the voice. The AC pilot on the otherhand, was filled with fear as he looked at the demonic machine in front him, that immobilized his AC with such ease. Without so much as an ounce of mercy, the machine plunged its right hand into the core of the AC. The hand punctured a hole straight through the AC and protruded from the back of the AC. It suddenly ripped out its left hand from the core of its prey, letting the dead corpse engulf itself in brilliant flames as it fell to the ground. The triumphant machine was suddenly alerted by a stomping approaching nearby. It turned its demonic head to the sound. A midweight AC, equipped with the Python railgun and the LB4 stood behind the demon-like monster. Its yellow laser eye staring down the monstrosity.

"That's not very nice to be picking on weak Ravens. Why don't you pick on someone with you're own skill level instead?" A calm voice spoke through the communications.

"And who might you be?" The pilot of the black machine asked curiously.

"Heh, the names Black Jack. But everybody calls me BJ." The pilot with his short black hair and bangs that ran down to his hazel eyes smirked.

"Well, a courageous one are we? And I sense something different about you than the others...perhaps this will be worth my while after all..." The black AC took one step to turn around to it's new opponent, "I am known as Scion to all. Come, you can be my new toy for the moment." Scion grinned inside his cockpit. His emerald eyes were glowing even more strange than they were. Excitement was filling him of this new opponent. The AC suddenly extended its long LB4 blade through the air. A smooth motion from its hand and the black entity's elbow blade had switched forth. The ghostly blue blade emitted a strange blue glow. Both giants parried eachother's blades with one another. After letting off from crossing blades, the black machine lunged forth with its blade pointed towards the grey AC. "Now die! Let the chaos engulf you in it's tight grip!" The machine jabbed its right arm forward while the grey AC flew upwards, charging it's Python rail gun and fly backwards. A large blue beam was suddenly speeding forward from the tip of the gun. With ease, the black demon stepped to the left and boosted towards the grey AC with it's blade in a jabbing stance. The black machine tried once again to plunge it's blade into the grey AC's core but failed as the AC swiftly boosted downwards while letting forth a cluster of missiles from it's HYDRA back unit. Tactics like those could only be commenced by some of the most elite of Ravens, it was clear to Scion that this was no ordinary low-life Raven. He immediately put his machine's thrusters into reverse and dodged the incoming missiles in midair, letting the missiles fly upwards just in front of his machine. Streaks criss-crossing eachother could be seen afterwards. As the demonic machine fell downwards it brought it's right hand upwards with it's palm facing the ground. BJ had just recovered from the drop and had not noticed the black machine falling above him. The machine fell down, surprising even BJ, and took the head of the grey ACs head unit into its claw armored hands, crushing the head slowly with its hand. Grabbing hold of the ACs core unit with its remaining hand, it threw the AC into the air and sent it flying backwards. The grey AC crashed into the ground, already littered with metal scraps and all. BJ attempted to stand his AC up but the fall to the ground had severly damaged the leg joints. The black machine that slowly walked towards the fallen AC, was halted in its tracks by another AC, a hover AC wielding a silky blue MOONLIGHT blade. "BJ! Get going now! Get outta here! Tell the administrator that Zeal has sent the Phantasms! Now!"

Hesitating for a moment, BJ realized there was no other way. "Alright! Hold out until I get back!" With that, the grey AC was lifted off of the ground with its brilliant boosters and sped in the opposite direction. The hovering AC had been distracted and let it's guard down as the black demon quickly snatched the AC by its neck. Following the grab, it immediately jabbed the ACs neck with its left hand and jabbed it again with its right hand. The demonic machine quickly threw the helpless AC to the side and placed its foot on the core of the AC lightly while pointing its blade downward at the AC.

"Let darkness take you and consume you in its deepest pits of hell!" The machine born of darkness slashed its blade in the air above the hover type AC. However, the blade was clearly nowhere near the ACs core or hull, and yet, the AC itself had exploded. A hellish blast engulfed both forms.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Twisted and Unreal

"Administrator Cypher! BJ is here to see you." The secretary said at the wooden doorway, engraved in the door were designs resembling Ravens and such. The woman shuffling all the papers on her desk swiveled around to turn to the secretary in her blue and white uniform. The Woman had black hair that reached down to her shoulder blades and cascaded around her head like a curtain of darkness. Her light blue eyes contrasted with her pale skin and black hair. She wore a pitch black long coat trimmed with white outlines. Her white skirt would run along with her legs down to her ankles.

"Send him in please," She said in a soft and melodious voice, holding her hands in front of her at waist level. At the words, the secretary opens the door, letting a averagely tall man walk in. The man in question, had small thin black bangs and short black hair. He wore a thin white coat that was decorated with navy blue. After bowing towards the woman who stood infront of the desk he quickly averted his gaze at her with his hazel eyes, with a calm expression on his face.

"Good morning administrator..."

"Morning BJ, what can I help you with?" She said, still with the soft and gentle voice, with a hint of joy.

"Well administrator...your not going to like what I have discovered..." He said, his face was grim, and his voice was almost a whisper.

"BJ?" The black haired woman raised an eyebrow.

"Remember the news about Zeal unleashing its...trump card last month?"

"Yes," A bit hesitant, she felt she didn't want to know anymore.

"Well...it just so happens that we saw it...first hand...at least...I did..."

"What is it?"

It was his turn to hesitate, he couldn't get the word he was thinking about out. A lump had formed on his throat. Before responding to the woman's question, he swallowed hard, "They've sent a Phantasm, Sara..."

"Where the hell have you been, Scion! I've been waiting an hour!" Beatrice jumped up from her chair, she hooked the right side of her golden hair behind her ear. Impatience and irritation flared inside her, ready to burst out to the man in front of her lika wild bull. A man with emerald green eyes stood in front of her. The color of his hair was the that of the snow that fell on wintery days. He wore a long sleeved jacket, the outside half was dark blue and the inside half was pure white. They stood in the tiled lobby, bright fluorescent lights illuminated the room from above and also gave life to the green plants in the corners.

"I had a bit of an errand to do for Vega." Scion scratched the back his head with a light smile on his face. "I've also recieved orders from him that we will be moving to Lakeside City as our base of operations."

"Lakeside City? But isn't that near Neo Ark?" Beatrice was a bit startled by the new mission they had recieved. Scion took notice of her sudden attitude change but merely nodded and smiled. "We're making our base of operations in the middle of a city which our enemy occupies! Are you crazy!"

"Nah! Just settle down, we're just there for extra reinforcements. So we can just kick back and relax if our main forces can take care of themselves."

"But this is Neo Ark! The place filled with Ravens who want us dead as well!" She snapped at him, the utter silence of the room was baffling.

"Oh come one now! It can't be that bad! Besides, I heard Lakeside City makes nice Capecino Mocha!" Scion said with a teeth baring grin on his face. "Come on, let's get a move on...don't want to be late right?" The captain turned around and walked towards the hallway without so much as consulting his companion. Beatrice was left standing in front of her chair, he arm extended in a crooked position as though something had slipped from her grasp. Her mouth was open but nothing came out and a baffled look was the expression that clearly defined what she was thinking.

_Wait! We're risking our necks so we can have some damn coffee!_

"Jayden what are you doing? You can't just dawdle around here all day! We've got work to do!" Jen yelled, only lengths away from the back of Jayden's head, while he paced around the room looking for books of all sorts.

"Yeah, I know Jen." Jayden's short brown hair swished along with the air that blew past him as he paced the room, his attention was divided. Unsatsified by the unattentive answer she just received, Jen balled her hands up into fists and placed them on her hips with a frown on her face.

"Jayden! You've got an arena match next week and you're slacking off like this! The match is against Wraith remember!" The female was quite agitated by her companion's attitude towards the arena these past few weeks.

"Jen...listen..." Jayden turned around with a stern look, slamming the open book he had in his hands. The sound of the book closing echoed throughout the room. "I didn't join the fold just to live life like you guys, I came to look for something...something important to me."

"I know Jayden! And I want to help as much as I can!" She snapped back. 

"And I appreciate the help Jen..." He ran his rough hand through his thick brown hair. The thin strands of hair clumped together would sway like wind blowing against grass. An injured look washed over his face, "I told you about how I'm looking for my father. My mother told me about what a great Raven he was. Ever since my childhood, I've envied other children for having both mother and father." The expression on his face suddenly changed from a depressed and injured mood to his usual stern and confident look, "That's why, I became a Raven, to look for my father. If he was as good as the stories, then he shouldn't have been so easily defeated."

"Right, I can see how you feel Jayden! And I want to help in any way I can!"

"But how does winning arena matches and taking random missions help?" He asked with a furrowed eyebrow.

"We need info, and info means money, and we need money right?" A mischeivous smile played across Jens face.

"...good point..."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" She touched Jayden on the arms, a gesture of reassurance that had worked over the months they had known eachother.

"Yeah, mom said I can't use that machine I just brought in. And it was my best card yet!"

"Then don't use that machine, use your skills!" Jen said, smiling slightly, amused by the reaction she recieved.

"W-what? Skills! Jen, you know as well as I do that I have next to no skills when piloting an AC! I was beaten by Cup...twice! And he was the hundred and fifty seventh ranker! How sad can that be!"

"Don't worry! It'll all work out!" Somehow, her words didn't reassure him, and he knew they weren't supposed to. After all, she did love seeing him writhe in agony. The statement was undoubtfully just to make sure he goes out into battle to make a fool out of himself. A question suddenly popped into his mind, though he already knew the answer to it already.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" He pointed with a crooked finger and a displeased expression. She, on the other hand, merely smiled, a child like light played on her face. It was like she had been playing with him, she was good at that. Of course, to Jayden, it would prove no use to just wander around and search for something without any information. For now, this would be the method he would have to go with. Furthermore, the machine that he had recently brought in, still plagued his mind. Questions like "What it really was?" or "How it operated?" would always hammer at his thoughts. But, he would have to take his mind off of the machine for now. Right now...he had more important things to worry about.

"By the way, I found two tickets to the arena match coming up next week that's being held in Neo Ark." Scion held up two slips of thin blue and white papers, almost the size of two thumbs, in his pale hands. Beatrice and Scion were seated next to eachother on the plane that was designated to arrive in Lakeside City. The nice fuzzy fur that covered the light blue seats would tickle Beatrice's bare skin once and awhile when she wriggled in the seats.

"An arena match? Why do we have to watch that?" She asked, discomforted by the news.

"It's a good study guide. Look at how others fight." Scion handed one of the slips to Beatrice, whom sat with her shining sun-gold hair sprawled across the seat head. Out of habit, she read the slip of paper when it fell between her thumb and her index finger. Words which didn't seem to surprise her read, "FREE COFFEE AND FOOD". After reading the words, she turned her head sideways to look at her captain. A bland look across her face denoted the fact that she was a bit awed by the way her tutor took advantage of the situation.

"You're just doing this for the coffee aren't you?" Scion merely smiled and nodded with closed eyes. "How did I get stuck with you? You're like the worst tutor in the elites! How did you even become captain! I can't believe a slacker like you..." To Scion, her words would fade out, like an echoe that slowly would eventually become inaudible. He looked out at the window of the plane, seeing the complex of the airport and its roads lit up by neon lights. They would slowly move along with the roads as the plane itself was preparing for a liftoff of the solid ground itself. At this moment, Scion's thoughts were concentrated on one thing and on thing only. That which was most concerning to him.

_Soon...the answers I seek shall be revealed to me! No longer will I wander through the light and darkness. I shall become both intertwined, I shall become chaos itself!_ He smiled gently, at the world that lay just outside the transparent barrier of the plane.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: In comes the Phantasms

The round dome of the arena had been kept the same over the past years. Titanium supports that held the bullet proof glass that could withstand more than enough punishment encased the arena in a large spherical area. Outside of the crystal sphere, the seats were huddled with people, bustling about with the excitement of today's spectacles, an arena match. Two large figures began to rise from the two holes that were on the opposite sides of each other. One of the figures was of a slender build with reverse joint legs. It held a grenade rifle in it's right hand and a shotgun in its left. The paint on it's shining armor was tinted with a dark grey with trimmed out by crimson on it's edges. The other was a heavy machine...dark green, big and had a set of powerful weapons on its back and its arms.

"Hey kid! You ready to have some fun?" A cocky male voice spoke abruptly through to the brown haired youth who sat inside of his dark rugged cockpit. In front of him, the display image showed the other AC...the reverse joint AC with its intimidating appearance. The identification of the unit flashed across the young man's display screen in bold and large letters that read, "AC IDENTIFIED AS GHOST!"

"Ahhhhhhh...no," The young man replied, scratching his thick dark brown hair. It was the fifth time Jayden had to go up against Wraith, all five times ending in miserable failures. Wraith was on of the middle rankers, not elite or amateur, but just in the middle. Jayden was probably at rock bottom. He could clearly remember the events that occurred the last time he went up against Wraith, an explosion from a nearby canister that he misfired at had put him to shame the last time he tried hitting Wraith. This time, however, there were no canisters or flammable objects that he could use for an accidental suicide. Nevertheless, it was apparent even before the match started that Jayden would lose either way.

"Awww, come on Jayden! Have some back bone! I need a challenge this time!" The man inside the AC called Ghost had a rough feature to him, tanned skin with really short black hair that was jelled upwards. A grin on Wraith's face made him look all the more confident. On his display screen, was the identification of Jayden's normal AC, Corsair. It was a random name given to an unlikely AC. The AC itself was actually overweight...but Jayden would be more focused on surviving a match than the statistics of his AC. Hence, another reason for Jayden's constant losing streak. The reverse joint AC took one step forward with its mechanical leg. A beeping from the stereos outside that echoed through the glass signaled for the start of the match. As if on que, Ghost immediately took to the air, creating a rain of hell through it's solid shells on the heavy weight AC.

"Scion, I don't see the point of this. I mean, these guys are complete amateurs compared to us! Why even bother watching them?" Beatrice asked, leaning against the railing with her shoulder length gold hair hanging down across her face. Her companion, Scion, was sitting down beside her on top of the stairs, eating a sandwich. The crumbs of the white bread would trail off onto his face from time to time and he would have to wipe them off with his navy blue sleeve.

"Because we need to get information on the enemy..." Beatrice shot a blank stare at Scion, as if she had been expecting a longer sentence. Eventually, the staring would irritate Scion to the point where he would reveal another one of his goals for coming to the arena. "...all right! All right! It's also because there was free coffee." He shrugged with a light and tender grin on his face.

"Scion! Even if we were trying to gather information on Raven statistics, these wouldn't be the best match-ups to look at...or candidates! Look at the heavy weight AC! It's getting it's handed to it! It can't even walk properly! I'm willing to bet that it'll be over in a matter of seconds!" She snapped, pointing an accusing finger at the large dark green AC that was being pummeled on by a rain of shells that came from the lighter reverse-jointed AC. The hulking AC kept stumbling from the constant contact of grenade shell impacts. Once again, a playful grin was cast on Scion's face.

"I'll take that bet. I'm willing to bet about 500,000 credits that the heavier AC will win!" Stunned by Scion's sudden statement, she almost felt like hitting the big idiot...if he wasn't paying her.

"What the hell makes you think that AC could win! It can barely stand!" If the arena stadium had been empty, her voice could have been audible through out the entire complex. Fortunately, the stadium was full and bustling about with excited people, so Beatrice's voice was merely a whisper compared to the cheering crowds.

"Watch, the heavier AC will win by some God-made-miracle that nobody would even think was possible." The odd captain said, with a teeth bearing smile.

_What a...total whack..._Beatrice thought to herself.

"All right! You shouldn't have much armor left in that heavy load of yours so I'll just..." Wraith's voice trailed off as the reverse-joint AC dropped both it's armaments and pulled out an ELF3 blade from it's hangar. "Finish you off!" Ghost immediately charged forward towards it's crippled opponent, it's short-ranged bright orange beam already extended from the component on it's left arm. Wraith himself was aiming at the higher torso of the core so that he could end the match for good. The dark green hulking AC stood affixed in place. Sparks jumped out of numerous places from it's cracked ashened armor. It's left leg gave off a floating mist of black smoke.

"Ahhhhh, crap...I knew this would happen again...!" It was unexpected however that the legs of Corsair would give way. Not collapsing, simply bending over into a kneeling position. The movement was so sudden that Wraith didn't even have time to adjust his blade and missed his target, just barely skinning the top of Corsair's SPIDER head.

"What the-! How did he-?" Before realizing anything, the reverse-jointed AC rumbled, falling backwards on it's mechanical legs from the impact between Ghost...and the heavily fortified glass wall. So hard was the impact that Wraith's head jolted forward from the sudden stop of the AC and hit the control panel then bouncing back onto the cushioned surface of his pilot chair. "Ow!" He rubbed his forehead, griping in pain. The AC itself had received major damage, surprisingly, from the impact. A missing head, the U4 core being flattened out or just seriously mutilated to the point of no return. Corsair on the other hand seemed fine, with a few sparks jumping about here and there but it still seemed to be in the match. Jayden looked back, to his rear, staring blankly at the fallen AC with a blank stare of disbelief and shock. It only occurred to what had transpired when the loud beeping of the sirens echoed throughout the complex, he had won an arena match with one of the middle rankers. In fact, he had one his first match since a couple months. With the tender excitement in his eyes, he cheered himself on saying usual lines like "Sweetness!"

The whole stadium was cheering about, some people disappointed, some people dismayed, others just cheering for the heck of it. But, and unusual silence surrounded one golden-haired girl, who wore a blank and pale stare. With wide eyes focused on the large transparent dome in the center, she seemed the most shocked out of all the audience. She hadn't noticed a hand extended towards her with the palm facing upwards, a gesture for receiving something usually. Beatrice averted her blank gaze to the pale hand.

"Told ya, now I think you owe me..." A small grin on Scion's face would denote that he was enjoying this all too much. A little stunned by the events, Beatrice averted her gaze between his pale hands and his grin of amusement. Suddenly, she burst into an all out rage.

"To hell I don't! You're cheating! You probably rigged the heavy AC legs with explosives and set it off just at the right moment and...and...!" Flustered from trying to reason with the situation, she stormed out of the arena. Scion merely gave off a frown of disappointment.

"Alright fine, I'll get you a sticky saying "I owe you" eh?"

A small wooden cottage stood on the grassy plains. The wind blew the grass blades, making little waves in them like the ocean currents. Shadows of the clouds that floated up above would fly by the cottage time and again with a ghost like motion. The front door, carved out in wooden oak, creaked open, revealing a tall slender being bathed in an angelic air. It was a female, with long brown hair, tinted with a slight red that could only be seen in the sunlight, stepped out into the sunlight. She wore a long light violet gown, an innocent light would play over her tanned face and hazel eyes. She would look up at the morning sky with a gentle smile on her face, expecting a cool, breezy normal day. The day was anything but normal when a navy blue entity started to come into view. Demonic, ominous and monstrous were the words that described them. From what the woman could tell the figure had a demonic head, it's two eyes emitted a brilliant green light. On it's arms, were two claw like structured components. Blowing the dust and grass behind it, the giant floated forwards at a speed that even the eye could follow. It halted in front of the small wooden cottage, only a few feet away. The demonic head would glare down on the small woman, still she stood with no fright in her eyes.

"Naomi..." A gentle male voice could be heard echoing from the machine.

"Marneas?" The woman replied in a soft yet loud voice, audible to the pilot insid the machine.

"It seems Scion has stirred up quite a bit of trouble, I think we need to go check things out."

Naomi bit her lower lip infuriated by the news, _That immature bastard child! Can't he leave us be for just a couple of months!_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A Lost Soul Revisited

It was weird for Sara Cypher, administrator of the Neo Ark. Standing in the middle of nowhere with a white gown that loosely ran down to her heels, her black hair would sway in the air from a mysterious wind. She blinked at her strange surroundings, pure blackness that faded into a blood red in the center. Sara gazed around, looking for something distinct or a way out. Surely enough, two figures came into view walking across her sight of view. The figure who was leading was a tall man bathed in black attire, pale skin and hair as white as snow that reached down to the top of his neck. Hairs from his sideburns would reach even lower, to the bottom of his neck. His eyes were a pair of orbs filled with blood. Despite his demonic appearance, there was a calm air that surrounded him. Nothing could be told of the man, he kept an emotionless face while walking erratically, keeping the other figure next to him in check. But, Sara couldn't help but feel that the man looked strangely familiar. The other, was a small child, probably twelve years old or so. The man with white hair would drag the child by his left arm while the child struggled with all his might to break free of the man's firm grip. Child was a boy, long blonde hair that reached to his waste that swayed everywhere as he struggled, cursing the man. The man would continue to walk forward, forcing the child to slide forward with him as well. _Who are they? Why is that man dragging that child?_ The boy suddenly cried out in anger.

"Let me go! If you hate me so much why don't you just kill me here and now!" The boy sounded like he had a soprano voice. It was quite apparant the furious boy was being pulled by the man against his own free will. His captor however, did not reply to his last question, he merely stared at the child with a calm gaze. The child's legs would slide along the pitch black ground, or was it just Sara's imagination that the ground was pure black? Without much thought about her actions, she walked forward, quickly towards the pair.

"Stop! What are you doing to that child?" She yelled, made a grab for the man's hand. Her hand would pass right through his black sleeved arm. Sara stared at her hand for a moment, a little shocked. The many thoughts and questions that flooded through her mind were gone the instant the child's voice rang out again.

"Where are you taking me! Let me go!" The blonde haired child kicked and punched at the man frantically, weak punches would not phase the man as he continued to drag the child across the boundless blackness. He merely looked at the child with his unchanged, calm eyes.

"What did I do to deserve such a thing!" Once again with the yelling.

"..." The man merely strolled across Sara's sights, pulling the struggling child with him. As if the man had answered him, the child spoke.

"No! You're wrong! It is mankind that has sinned against me! I have nothing to atone for! You have no right to do this!" Many questions fluttered through Sara's mind. What was the man going to do with the child? Why wouldn't the white-haired man answer the child? These questions would baffle her as the figures slowed down. A small hole in the blackness started to warp open, revealing something bright and fiery. Soon enough, Sara could make out what was in the hole. A burning city, engulfed in fires from hell. The brilliant flames would illuminate the two human faces. Upon seeing the city in fires, the man loosened his grip and the child fell on his knees, weeping tears of sorrow.

"Did...I do this?" The child whispered.

"..." Again, the man did not answer him. Instead, he turned around, the same emotionless expression on his face, and walked away towards Sara. As he turned around, an object that hung around the man's neck, would sway through the air with his movements. The object would glimmer in the light being produced by the burning city image. Sara caught a glimpse of the object, a necklace with a dragon on the end with several detailed carvings in it. With hands in his black jacket pockets, the man walked away from the weeping child. Seeing the object almost made Sara jump. She pulled out a silver necklace that hid within her gown. A silver dragon curled in an infinite style with detailed carvings engraved in it, the same as the man wore. She looked from her palm to the man who walked past her, not seeing her.

"Wind?" Now looking closely, she could tell the man had much more expression on his face than you could tell from far away. A slight hint of sadness with depression, masked by his white hair and blood red irises. The administrator woke up, bolting upright with perspiration covering her body, she didn't know why. The dream wasn't that bad, nor was it terrifying. She clutched the silky white bed sheets to her chest, heaving up and down heavily. I haven't had those dreams in a long time...what could it mean? Sara looked out of the window her bed was placed next to. The moon would light the night with it's white luminescence. Trees outside would move slightly, wind blowing them in their place. _Was that really Wind? It sure resembled him...who was that child then?_

A man stood by the window in his dark office. The only light source came from the outside, the moon's light. The man had long blonde hair that reached down to his waist. He would gaze out towards the moon with his unwavering dark green eyes, drinking a glass of red substance. He would raise the small glass filled with red wine to his mouth with his gloved hands and take a few sips of it time and again. His left hand rubbed the tiny scar on his eye brow line and he would contemplate on his next actions. _I hope Scion doesn't screw this up._ A woman entered the room in uniform.

"Sir, excuse me for my impertinence..." She bowed her head. It was hard to make out her face because of the shadows and the darkness of the office. "But do you think dispatching the Phantasms is neccessary? I mean, it would've been alright to send the other four. But asking Scion to come was completely unneccessary."

"Well...I don't think so, I think it's a neccessity to ask Scion in for this operation. Why, Mary? Do you dislike Scion or something?" The man said, only tilting his head slightly, not turning around to speak to the woman.

"No...but I've heard rumors that he overdoes things..." She said, in a quiet voice.

"Bah, you need not worry. Those rumors are exaggerations. He'll be fine, he won't do anything drastic without my consent. Now, leave me be! I want to be alone right now." He said, raising his hand and gesturing her to leave him.

"Y-yes sir..." She bowed and proceeded outwards, closing the doors behind her silently.

_I just hope...he doesn't regain his memories too quickly...otherwise..._

"Kine! Please report to the debriefing room as soon as possible!" Announcements echoed through the hallways. In the silent room only lit by the lights that beamed down on the ground, a man lay on his back against the covers of his soft bed, looking up at the ceiling. Short black hair, almost a crew cut and small whiskers covered his rough face. The man sat up, his hand making it's way towards the pair of shades on the table beside his bed. Kine stood up, walking towards the door of his quarters. _Guess it's time..._He thought, swinging the silver leather jacket around his shoulders and leaving his room behind, silent as before.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Destiny Entwinement

Cafes, always busy and filled with life. The people around you wouldn't care about what your talking about with your friends because it was simply always too noisy to even give a damn. Waitresses and waiters would walk about, filling out orders, giving out food, giving orders or just flirting perhaps. Aside from being the Neo Ark administrator, Sara Cypher, took a part time job as a head waitress, serving the happy people that came by with the exciting smiles on their face and awaiting the smell of rich, sweet coffee to fill their noses. The smell would intoxicate people...or maybe it was just the delicious sandwiches in the morning which were so finely made in this specific cafe. Small circular tables would be crowded full of people. The noise was peaceful and chaotic at the same time. Sara had to deal with this every Saturday, a routine by now, and she didn't mind. In fact she enjoyed the work, listening to people, talking to people and maybe making some new friends. In a white dress shirt and a black mini skirt, which was the usual stereotypical uniform in a cafe, Sara calmly walked to a round table as she would always do with other customers. However, this table had only one man seated in it. He wore a black short sleeved dress shirt, making his black slacks seem as though he were only wearing one thing. His hair was hidden under the grey top hat which he wore and his eyes were blocked by the pitch black shades on his face.

"May I take your order sir?" Sara asked in a kind, serene and welcoming voice. Taking out the pen from her skirt pocket, she clicked the top and readied the pen on a note pad that was also stored in her skirt pocket.

"Oh, yes! Cappeccino Mocha and a sandwich original please." The calmly said, while looking up and folding the colorless newspaper in his hands.

"Okay...one Cappeccino Mocha..." Sara mumbled under her breath while scribbling on the small not pad she held in her slender hands, "Is there anything else I can get you sir?"

"No thank you," He said with a small grin on his face.

"Hmmmm...come to think of it, I've never seen you around before. Are you new to Lakeside City?" She asked kindly, looking as young as her late twenties perhaps.

"Yeah, first time here. I heard they make fine coffee here!"

Sara giggled, only a little, "Well, you'll have to try it out yourself sir."

"I think I will...and please do stop calling me sir, makes me sound old. My name is Scion." He extended his arm out, pale fingers stretched out in a calm and friendly manner.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Scion, my name is Sara." She took his hand and shook it gently. Everything seemed fine with about the man, he didn't dress too bad and he seemed like a really nice guy. So why couldn't she shake the feeling that there was more to this guy than meets the eye. That the calm air around him was only a deception to his true intents. Sara had gotten used to making friends in the cafe, this situation wasn't any different from the ones before. Putting the feeling aside, Sara strode towards the kitchen, preparing the rich coffee for the kind man she had just met.

"Here you are sir...Scion...one Cappeccino Mocha!" The head waitress spoke in a childly and gentle manner.

"Thanks," He replied. Drinking the coffee immediately upon arrival. Taking a sip of the sweet, hot awakening tonic and enjoying the taste to the full extent. "Ahhhhh...haven't tasted coffee like this in ages. This is damn fine coffee, some of the best I've had." He stared at the cup as if he had discovered something miraculous that could end cancer, the look of excitement.

A gentle and sweet smile was cast across Sara's face as she giggled silently, "I'm glad you like it!"

"Marneas and Naomi reporting sir!" A female and a male form stood tall and saluted the man covered in the shadows of his own office. The man had quite long hair for a male, down to his neck that curled slightly on the ends. It was the color of metal when it was freshly made, a brilliant silver. His darkly tanned skin would contrast with his dark eyes. A long gruesome scar was engraved in his right cheek which would make it's way downwards along his neck and disappeared into his clothes. His clothes, also a dark color, a dark vest stitched on the edges with a grey short sleeved shirt underneath and dirty grey slacks. The man grinned calmly, "Well, I'll be damned sir, you've grown a couple inches since the last time we met." The man spoke in an odd mix of a slight british dialect with a tinge of irish accent in it. Turning towards the male stranger, the man with his long blonde hair had both hands in his pockets.

"I see you haven't changed at all Marneas. How is Naomi?"

"Oh, well, you know her! Always complaing about, in fact, princess seems to be agitated that you called her here." Marneas smiled slightly, the deep scar would move along with the motions of his mouth. The female called Naomi, who stood, hands clasped together in front of her with innocence, suddenly glared viciously at her male companion. Her light purple gown would flow to her ankles, ankles which wore thin sandals. She wore a small black vest over her upper torso, covering the top part of her godly figure.

"Stop calling me princess, you jerk!" The brunette snapped, Marneas merely chuckled.

"So how is her majesty and his heartlessness nowadays?" Putting a hand in his pocket and a calm grin on his face, Marneas was unaware of his companion, glaring and flaring about in his presence.

"Well, now that you bring up the topic-!" The tall blonde man was immediately cut off...once again by Marneas.

"Well speak of the devil!" Marneas smirked as another figure approached, entering the small room and making it's presence known.

"Whose in charge here!" A big gruff and booming voice would echoe through the cafe from a large muscular man. His large fist banged heavily down upon the round table in front of him almost like a hammer. The table would lurch over and break, spilling coffee and food of all sorts on the marble carved ground. Liquid brown coffee would flood the crevices in between each marble tile. A small slender figure would come out of the kitchen, moon-pale skin with light blue eyes. She would ask in a gentle voice.

"Is there something wrong sir?" She walked towards the wreckage where a round brown table once stood. Now a pile of broken wood and coffee spills in it's place. Sara glanced to the side, noticing Scion calmly sitting in a chair in front of the wreckage reading his newspaper.

"Yeah! The meat in my sandwich is stale! And I found an insect in my soup!" His loud booming voice would fill the whole cafe almost like a thunder storm striking the ground with it's roaring lightning. Sara was paying more attention to Scion's actions however. He would gaze up from his colorless newspaper and from underneath the dark shadows of his hat. She could make out the color of his eye, a strange glowing emerald green which directed it's odd icy gaze at the large and muscular man who stood just a couple inches away from him.

_What an insignificant worm...he dares to interfere in my coffee time! How come I always come across these type of people with the same excuse everytime I recieve good coffee! It doesn't make any sense!_

"I am terribly sorry sir..." The waitress bowed her head, letting her black hair tumble downwards, cascading towards the ground almost like a waterfall filled with shining black water. She immediately stood back up, straightening her posture, "How about I get you something else instead then?" Everyone was watching the scene that erupted about, including the staff. The big man made a sly grin, checking the waitress's build.

"Say, you have a pretty face..." His large hand made it's way towards Sara, almost trying to engulf her in it's grip. "How about we-aghhhhhhhh!" Suddenly a pale hand, much smaller than his arm, gripped firmly onto his wrist. A sudden pressure was applied which made the man squirm in pain.

"Yo, you owe me some coffee." It was Scion, his hand firmly gripped on the man's wrist who seemed to be in agony. "A shame really, such fine coffee ruined...maybe you have the money to pay me back as I am currently broke." His voice was calm, almost laid back was the mood he invoked. His other hand was holding the newspaper, snug and warmly folded in his left hand. Somehow, through extreme use of force, the man pulled his hand away. Enraged by the intruder, the large man walked, almost face to face had it not been for the height difference.

"And who the hell are you, you wuss!" He mumbled from under his grinding teeth. Scion casually, took off his opaque black shades, tipping the front of his top hat to reveal a puff of pure white hair, something that Sara, who stood behind Scion, could not have seen.

"Why, I'm just your average tourist in town! Can't ya tell?" He grinned. Glancing at the small white hair that dangled from underneath his top hat and his strange emerald green eyes, the man immediately went pale. Suddenly shaking with fear and eyes wide as ripe olives, he staggered towards the doorway of the cafe.

"Ah...ah...ah...right...uh...yes sir! Oh and heres the money, take it! Take it all! Please!" With that the man ran off, stumbling, tripping, but never looking back towards Scion. The fluttering ten credit bill that floated in the air for a moment was immediately picked up by Scion's pale hand.

An abrupt female voice seemed to interrupt him, everyone else went back to their own talks, despite the strange event that occurred. Still, it was not to say that things like this did not happen regularly in the cafe. "Scion you bastard! You said to wait for you at the airport! It's been over an hour you half-witted jerk!" A girl, casually dressed for the summer heat, called inside the cafe, her shoulder lengh golden hair would be illuminated even more by the sun outside the window.

"Oh, right...sorry! Got sidetracked a bit there, won't happen again Beatrice!" He smirked nervously, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry, about the mess, miss-!"

"Sara, please..." She interrupted with a smile.

"Sara...it was nice to talk to you and even better to taste the coffee," With that he waved goodbye while walking alongside the girl who had suddenly come barging in.

"Your flirting with women now, Scion? You can be such a problem child sometimes!" Beatrice yelled at the clearly older man.

"Nah, I was just chatting, ya know...making new friends! And tasting some great coffee..." Their conversation would fade away as they closed the cafe door behind them. Sara stood for a moment, with a gentle smile on her face, but her mind uneased.

_That man...he looked familiar...but he's a strange guy...hope he'll be fine..._She turned around, towards the kitchen doors, the everyday life for her would be back again. _But...I can't shake the feeling that we'll meet again..._


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Fall and Rise

A slight humming throughout the crudely assembled walls, would fill the room, resonating with the metal and screws that were held so tight together. The large room, which held two towering figures within it, one demonically white, the other a light purple, would tremble with vibrations and such. Beside the two entites, were smaller forms, comparatively tiny to the large figures. one of them was notably yelling out and screaming at the other.

"Jayden! Get some back bone! It's just one mission for god sakes!" Jen almost screaming in his face with her hands flailing in the air.

"Yeah...but...can't we just take something easy, like eliminating some small terrorist group or something? You never give me a break Jen! Please!" He pleaded with a small grin on his face.

"Jayden, you know those type of missions don't give you much of anything...you can't even get a decent meal with that type of pay. Gotta aim for the big fish, Jayden!"

"But this is Zeal! With their numerous armies! We may even be lucky to get back alive!"

"I know! Isn't it exciting!" She smiled with glee.

"Jen!" He managed to spit out.

"Awwwww, don't worry Jayden, it'll be fun. We're only going to act as a support group for the main Sphere force anyways! What could be the worst that could happen?"

He folded his arms and looked the other way in an almost childish manner, "Easy for you to say, your not the one whose challenged in every aspect of piloting an AC."

"Yes, but your not piloting an AC now are you?" She smiled mischeiviously.

Crap...she got me there...

"In any case, Jayden, we're gonna be there in a short while. Come on! I need you to back me up!" Jen slapped him on the back hard but playfully.

"Okay...fine..."

"Hey, Marneas!" Naomi would run towards the aged, battle scarred pilot. Her slightly red and brown hair would sway through the air.

"Hey princess, what's up?" He raised his hand in a welcoming gesture with a calm smile.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" She glared as she stopped, "Anyways, have you heard about the rumors?" Naomi crossed her arms, she had changed into her pilot suit which a light purple color, her favorite color.

"Rumors?" Marneas raised a silver eyebrow in curiosity.

"About Zeal's trump card!" She spat out, as if almost trying to insult the man in front of her.

"Oh, the proposed Angel Reaper. Yeah, I've heard of it. I think it's true too." He said in a calm demeanor.

"Angel Reaper?"

"Vega hasn't detailed much about it. And I can only speculate from the rumors. They say that the Angel Reaper is Zeal's most skilled pilot in history. Rumors say that he used to be a Raven. That kind of baffles me though...why would a Raven suddenly join Zeal? I also sometimes wonder if there was ever even a Raven that could beat the Phantasms." Marneas chuckled lightly, "Heh, if the Angel Reaper exists, I would like to face off with him." In a smooth motion, the experienced Phantasm pilot walked off in the other direction with a smirk on his face, casually with his hands in his pockets.

"Marneas..."

Atop of a cliff, situated just beside a base, two forms stood. The sands of the desert would blow from place to place, creating a fog of yellow mist. One of the forms, was that of a demon, red eyes glowing and red lines would make it's way around and down the machine. Pitch black, almost as if it was the shadows itself. Behind it was a blood red AC, some of its parts were slightly modified but if you looked closely you could still make out the lightweight legs from the new generation. The modified EYE with a horn protruding from it's head and making it's way to the back of the head. It held a large arm mounted cannon, most likely not of AC origin, which would attach to it's shoulder and extend to the ankles of the AC. On it's left hand was the original ELF2 blade, unchanged, still there with it's fine blue lining.

"The Sphere forces seemed to have gained the advantage." A voice, directed to no one in particular, made it's way into the cockpit of the red AC. The pilot was a blonde girl, her hair almost gold. "Kine should be here by now...go down and support him as much as you can."

"Shouldn't you go down as well sir?" Beatrice would question unentheusiastically.

"I'll be monitoring your progress from here...what? It's my lunch time! You expect me to eat and fight at the same time!" The white haired man spat in the communications while eating a small sandwhich. 

Beatrice let off a sigh of pain, "Fine..." The blood red AC, made it's way towards the cliff edge and descended upon the chaotic base, explosions and fire all about with it's flickering lights.

"Jayden, how are you controlling that thing anyways?" Jen looked at the strange white demon that flew beside her AC. They had been cutting up MTs and ACs alike, all day with ease.

"Hm?" Jayden replied with an uncertain question of his own, as if unable to hear her question.

"I mean...I took a good look at the inside of the cockpit inside that thing but there only strange symbols in there. There were no controls."

"Hmmmm...kinda funny ain't it? I don't really know either but my hunch is that this thing works by mind power." He laughed hysterically.

"Mind power?"

"I think it responds to the mind," Jayden said, as his machine sliced through and unwary AC with it's linear rifle switch blade. "I haven't been able to work it out, but the symbols are like regulators for the machine...I think..." He would speak calmly like he was having a normal conversation with Jen while slashing destroying a Zeal AC that was about to land a full on shotgun round into another AC, white and yellow.

"Oh god! It's a in Phantasm! They've sent a Phantasm!"

"What? Zeal isn't serious are they? Sending in the Phantasms?"

"! We don't stand a chance!" Screams from the pilots were audbile to the two Ravens.

"What's a Phantasm?" Jayden asked, dumbfounded.

Jen's voice was grim, "It's the elite unit of Zeal, composed of five elite pilots. They're the best pilots Zeal has to offer. Each individual would amount to an entire Sphere battalion." Jayden didn't even have to see Jen's face and he could tell that her face was pale through her voice. And why wouldn't she be, only hearing that would make Jayden almost tremble. Over the distance, behind a pile of rubble which was once a warehouse of some sort, a hulking figure could be seen approaching their way. Various MTs and ACs were firing at it, none of the shots seemed to face it. As the form began to come into focus, a demonic form could be made out. Tinted with a white and black all over it's body. Hulking shoulders with components that towered over it's own head. Large cannons were folded behind it which were now pointing downwards while it walked slowly, almost strolling through the chaotic battleground. Shield like compartments were installed onto both it's arms. It was as if Jayden was staring at a relative of Neo Omen, only a bit more massive and broadened shoulders with more armaments. Brilliant sparks and shells would bounce off of it's stilly shiny armor. Suddenly, it's towering shoulder components would change it's position, pointing in front of it where several hundred machines stood in it's way. A yellow energy started to surge and swirl around the two, now shoulder mounted cannons. The yellow energy that crackled around the cannons ignited, creating a blinding linear path of light that left destruction in it's wake. With the blinding light vanishing, everything afterwards seemed to amaze Jayden. Not so much as a scrap of metal was left behind, only a ground with sand blowing over it was left. The black and white machine, no, demon turned around to face the remaining two.

"You must be that one, who stole the new prototype machine..." A male voice, icy and cold, spoke calmly through the communications. "Your no ordinary human, only humans with highly trained thoughts can handle those machines."

"A highly trained mind?" Jayden complied with curiosity, not realizing he had said it out loud.

"Oh, a child? Well, then gifted one, show me what you're true power is. Grant me the glory of death on the battlefield!" Immediately, the two cannons behind it would switch upwards to be snugly under the machine's arms. Grappling onto the two cannons, the demon jumped upwards with it's white boosters flaring about. It hovered above ground while the cannons underneath it's arms would spurt out bursts of light blue beams, as blinding as the sun itself. The black and white machine continued to hover relatively over the sandy ground while shooting bursts of blue light. All Jayden and Jen could do was keep on dodging it's rapid attacks.

_Crap...it's like he can read my mind...everywhere I go, his shots land just before me!_ The cannons on it's shoulders started to emit a faint and familiar yellow glow around it. The young male Raven could already tell that this Phantasm pilot was really serious. But his cannons were not directed at Neo Omen, they were directed at another, a light purple AC who knelt at the side, it's left leg sparking and fizzing with electricity. A brilliant surging of yellow energy once again surrounded the two cannons.

"Jen!" Jayden screamed to the top of his lungs as he pushed Neo Omen towards Haven. A flash of light blinded the whole surroundings, as if the sun itself had exploded.

"Nice speed kid, I didn't think you'd be able to save your friend in time," The calm voice spoke again. Despite doing the courageous deed, Jayden was trembling with fear, or was it anxiety over Jen.

_Crap, I'm a bit surprised myself!_

"Jayden..." A soft voice called him.

"Huh?"

"Look out!" The soft voice shifted to a yell. Reacting to this, Neo Omen boosted to the side, carrying Haven along with it and letting a pure white and blue light explode behind it. As if a silent voice was warning him, Jayden spun Neo Omen around with it's linear rifle blade extended outwards. Jayden didn't know why he had done it, something had told him, a whisper, a sign, a noise perhaps. But he wasn't complaing because his blade had sliced through an object unexpectedly. It had sliced through both of the other demonic machine's shoulder cannons. The machine jumped back, a bit taken back by the reaction. He had not expected the pilot to react before he even had a chance to attack.

_This kid..._Snapping from his thoughts, the pilot of the hulking demon realized that Neo Omen had taken the opportunity to go up-close with it's elbow blade already unfolded. The white form made a furious slash at it's opponent, making a deep cleaving cut in it's torso. "That's it kid! Now show me more of what you can do!" Kine grinned.

A tall man, with long blonde hair, wearing a blue suit and gloved hands, picked up a chess piece, a rook with his index and thumb. He gently placed it on a square which was vertical from it's former position. "Sir, I feel it..." A small, shy yet at the same time loud, voice was directed to the man.

"Heh, the trump card...the Angel Reaper...I just hope Kine doesn't die or else the Angel Reaper will awaken."

"But sir, you sent Beatrice and Scion with him." The soft voice once again said.

"That's what I'm afraid of..." The blonde man had a grim look on his once stern face. A sudden presence seemed to have alerted the man, clenching his teeth and fists, his body tensed up with the sudden presence he felt, "Damn...he's awake!"

"At last...heh...I can finally rest in peace..." The black and white machine knelt to the ground, joints and parts sparking with a blue energy. It's shoulder cannons had been torn off, various scars lay engraved in it's armor. "Boy, why do you fight? Why are you a Raven? You have so much potential...to become something greater..."

"I fight because I try to find something that I never had, someone who I never knew yet wanted to know."

"A reason...to live and fight for...I envy you..."

"Why do you want to die so badly?"

"Me? I'm just tired of life...I've been living too long...dying on the battlefield...in the blaze of glory...there is nothing more satisfying...hehe..." The black and white machine engulfed itself in it's own flames. Nothing could be done to save it. Jayden had never liked killing, simply looking at the machines was a way to cover up the person inside the machine. A person on the verge of death, filled with fear and wishes that he could have fulfilled.

"Jayden! Zeal forces!" Jen's voice made it's had abruptly intervened in Jayden's thoughts.

"Crap...that's not good..." Looking beyond the horizon, hundreds, no, thousands of ACs and MTs marched towards the two with the intent of killing. All probably with murder in their eyes.

"That's not good, we can't take on that many!" Jayden's eyes widened, it was almost like trying to count how many ants were in an anthill.

"Jayden, my boosters and leg functions have been damaged..." Suddenly, Jayden realized he had been fighting for somewhat of a long time and glanced at his energy status. Not surprising, it was at an all time low.

"I don't have enough energy, Jen..." It seemed like only mere seconds before the MTs and ACs had surrounded them, guns poised, ready to kill the two on the spot.

"I'm sorry, Jayden..." Jen's voice seemed saddened.

"Sorry?" Jayden raised an eyebrow.

"I shouldn't have dragged you into this..."

"Nah, don't worry about it Jen, I would've followed you anyways." Jayden smiled, Jen smiled as well. "I don't know...I have this odd feeling that things might turn out for the better for us...it's just a gut feeling...or maybe intuition."

"Well, you have an odd gut feeling to think that any miracle might save us." She smiled, looking around. MTs and ACs all painted either blue or red surrounded them.

Beatrice had been watching from afar, her AC weapons lowered. She had been watching the whole fight in progress. But what she felt was possibly something of disgust towards the Zeal forces that had surrounded the two machines. _What a bunch of cowards, taking on two machines with their whole group!_ What she saw next, was unbelievable to her eyes. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have made it out, but within the blue and red army, was a small white form, hovering through the masses like a ghost. _Is that another of the Phantasms?_ She could clearly make out what she had seen, a demon like mech, bathed in white armor with light blue eyes. Crevices within it's armor would glow the same blue. It was as if she was staring at a modified version of the other machine which had been fight Kine. The demon machine was within the army but at the same time it was as though it was invisible to the everything else. They would walk normally, not even caring for that demon it their presence. The machine unfolded a blade which was situated on it's elbow, it was apparant to Beatrice what the machine was about to do.

Mechanical bodies suddenly flew everywhere, surprising Jayden and Jen. Both wide eyed from what happened. In front of Jayden's display screen was something that astonished him. A white demon machine, eyes a brilliant blue with crevices in it's armor that emitted the same glow. A ghostly blue blade on it's arm was forced into the torso of another AC. The demon ripped it's blade out of the now lifeless body and swing with such fury that surround enemies were either flung into the air or sliced in half. It's movements were not mechanical at all, it moved humanly, in fact it looked as though it were breathing. Jayden felt like he was staring at his own machine, the only difference between this machine and his was this one looked like it had crystals bursting out from its shoulders. The white machine started to hover above the ground, barely touching the rubbled filled ground. It made a spinning movement with it's blade outstretched. Everything surrounding the machine had been perfect sliced from the waist up. While the monstrous machine was fending off the army with little effort, Jayden had been waiting for an identification of the white entity in front of him. The identification had come in mere seconds, and Jayden recognized the name all too well: "NAME IDENTIFICATION: ALUS OMEN. PRODUCTION DATE???PRODUCTION TYPE: THE ORIGINATOR."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: A Ghost of the Past

Sometimes, staring at mirrors was all that was needed to give you nightmares. The ones in the carnivals which would enlarge your image and twist it into your worst fears. That was what Jayden felt like he was seeing, a mirror, twisting the image of his machine into something from one of those horror flicks you would watch. Mechanical Zeal corpses lay on the floor surrounding the new white entity. It's ghostly blue blade still extended, the very blue glowing crevices that were carved in it's armor would form a demonic grimace on it's head. Those evil blue eyes glared at Jayden from the side, almost burning him on the inside.

"Alus Omen! But...isn't that...?"

"Windbreaker's machine. Windbreaker, the hero who stopped the crisis from happening again 18 years ago..." Jayden would finish Jen's sentence, as if he could read her mind. The very hairs on the back of his neck were standing up like needles and his face had drained of it's color just from looking at the machine. He didn't know why, it was only an image after all. But a sense within him began to lurch and turn upside down, he felt an aura emanating from the machine in front of him. A dark aura shrouded in pure evil.

"But I thought Windbreaker was supposed to be dead, and what's with his machine? It looked much different in the text books back at the library." Jen could also feel the sense of hope being drained from her just by looking at the machine.

"Jen...we'd better get out of here...fast!" Jayden managed to speak, almost mustering all of his courage to talk as the white demon began to turn towards them.

"But, why? I thought he's supposed to be on our side?" Jen raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it doesn't look like he's on friendly terms with us!" Jayden stammered backwards in his cockpit seat as the white machine began flying towards them at an incredble speed. The demon already had it's blade arm poised to slice the unfortunate souls. Luckily, Jayden had come to terms with the current events and brought his own ghostly blade to parry.

_You...continue to fight...why? Why do you continue to hurt innocent lives! Why do you fight for those who would dare intrude on the peace that we have worked so hard for!_An enraged male voice crept into Jayden's mind. Jayden was suddenly taken aback from this. Neo Omen's arm started to shake as Jayden's concentration began to shatter. In a desperate attempt to fend of Alus Omen, Jayden, with all the might in his mind, pushed the blade away. Alus Omen spun around with it's blade and immediately slashed at the unprepared Raven. Neo Omen had reacted in time to avoid being sliced in half but a body cleaving cut had been freshly made into it's core from right the top right corner to the bottom left corner of it's torso.

_! I didn't think I'd have to face off against him myself!_ Suddenly, a light purple AC with both it's beaming purple blades extended, charged at the white demon with it's red flickering boosters behind it. Haven made several slashes at Alus Omen, most of which were either parried or dodged. Retreating backwards just enough to avoid one of Alus Omen's slashes, the light purple AC fired several rockets from it's back units. The shots however, were futile as Alus Omen would dodge the shells from side to side and brought it's left arm blade around to cleave it's attacker. Haven had bounced the attack away with it's own beam blade only to have another unexpected blade to strike it's left side. While Jen had been parrying Alus Omen's first slash, it had brought it's right arm blade in a vertical slash to severe Haven's left arm. Haven retreated back to a safe distance, and watched the event that occurred afterwards, a solid blade was protruding from the core of white demon. The glimmering blade slowly pulled out, and Alus Omen boosted away, also retreating to a safe distance while turning to face it's attacker, Neo Omen. It landed on the ground with a hard thud, a smoothly went into a kneeling position.

_You...could never defeat me...because...you lack the conviction to..._The same voice suddenly crept inside Jayden's mind once again. His face went pale, his head started to hurt like a thousand hammers were beating on it, and yet, he could clearly hear and understand the voice, now dying off and fading slowly. _If...this is the path you have chosen...then surely...you shall face your fate..._The voice faded, and the white machine began to surge with brilliant colors. It's shoulders fell slowly as it's dying gaze began to fall towards the ground, almost as if it was truly breathing. An explosion would be the end of the machine, a brilliant display of small fireworks replaced the once demonic machine. In the aftermath of the battle, only smoldering smoke and rubble was left in the area, along with littered mechanical bodies. It looked like a graveyard for machines. The only living soul among the lands were two Ravens, still tired from their previous battle.

_What...could he mean...and...how did he...how did I...this doesn't make any sense!_ Jens voice, small and lacked of it's usual energy spoke.

"Jayden...we should get back to the base quickly...transports should be waiting for us. Could you help me with my AC?"

"Oh! Uhh...yeah, sure!" Jayden answered, almost uncertain what to say.

Beatrice had been caught up in watching the battle that she had not noticed how much time had went by. Darkness had crawled across the horizon. It was night time, the time where darkness would roam the lands freely. _Oh! Crap! I forgot all about Scion! He's probably back at the base waiting for me!_

Strolling down the empty hallway, a tall long-haired blonde man with a calm look on his face would walk by a door. He walked with a straight spine and his hands behind his back, his shoes tapping on the tiled floor. The door which he had walked by slid open with a swish, revealing a man with pure white hair. His white hair would hang downwards to the top of his neck, part of his hair covered his right eye. His hair was as pure and white as snow, and yet, it seemed to be pitch black as the shadows would cover almost all of his hair except for the edges in which small white outlines could be made out. The left eye was a fiery orb, almost the color of blood red would paint his irises. All of this stood out from his black attire. His skin was as pale as the moon when it shone in at night. The white haired man had the same calm expression as the other.

"Ah, I didn't think you would be awake at this hour..." The tall blonde man said with a smirk of amusement on his face.

"..." The white haired man still retained his calm expression. His bloody gaze would capture the tall blonde man in it's lenses.

"I'm sending you to Lakeside City tomorrow...is there anything you would like to say?"

"..." The man glanced down the hallway, almost speaking in silence with the movements of his eyes.

"So, you think Sphere is trying to use a cloning technology to create and army?"

"..." The white haired man merely averted his calm gaze at the tall man in front of him.

"I see...that could pose a problem...in any case, it would be best if you go to Lakeside City to investigate. I've heard rumors of certain Sphere operatives walking around the streets."

"..."

"What's the problem?" Raising a brow curiously, the tall blonde man asked the white haired man as if he had even spoke. But the man had never even spoke a word, not even open his mouth.

"..." Utter silence and a calm fiery stare would be the reply to the man's question.

"I see...but you eliminated all the spies right?" The shadowed man nodded his head slightly in response.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that, you just worry about the mission I've assigned to you." Walking away with a straight back, hands behind clasped behind, and the tapping of his shoes with the ground, the tall blonde man had left the other to stand around to gaze through the hallway. Complete silence filled the corridor as the silent man transifixed his gaze down the hallway, unlit and hidden in the shadows.

"..."


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Another Strange Encounter

Night was the time were people could sleep peacefully and sometimes have romantic affairs. It was also the time which the cafe would be as empty as the cups and glasses that sat on the tables, transparent, and filled with nothingness. Sara almost always worked overtime to ensure the cafe was in top condition. However, there was one man who sat at a table, the table was brown and the hard wood on it very well carved and stained. The man had white hair and yet, it wasn't white at the same time. His hair was covered with dark shadows, the only thing that indicated that it was originally white was the outlines of his hair, almost as white as snow. His face was steeped in darkness as he drank the cup of hot coffee in his hand. The hair on his head hung downwards, reaching the top of his neck. Part of his hair would cover the left eye. Sara slowly approached the man who wore a long black coat with a white shirt on the inside, a simple attire.

"Excuse me sir! The cafe is almost closing..." Then she saw it, laced delicately around his neck, a shining object glittered a brilliant silver color. A metal chain which held a curled up dragon in the center of it. Carved into the dragon were many detailed heiroglyphs and designs of sorts. "Sir, may I ask where you got that necklace from?"

"..." The man glanced up from place, a single bloody ring which encircled around blackness was what defined his eye. Because of certain events that Sara had experienced before, she did not think of his red iris as an oddity. But she knew normal people never had it, and she also once knew one person who had red eyes as well.

"Sir?" She bent her head low, taking good look at the features of the man steeped in blackness. The man, took out a small piece of paper from his coat, a light green it was. A twenty credit bill was slapped onto the desk. Sternly, he got up from his chair and walked towards the doorway of the cafe. Sara suddenly realized, just from glancing at his clothes and his darkly shadowed white hair, that he looked familiar. She realized this was the same man from her dream, the dream of a man dragging a child towards a display of fire.

"Wind? Is that you?" She said, in an unusually weak and soft voice. In response the man merely glanced back with his blood eye, a calm expression still transfixed on his face.

"..." He would only respond with complete silence, and turned to walk out of the doorway. Into the night, now suddenly drizzling with light rain from the heavens.

"Wind!" She yelled, dashing for the still moving doorway and glancing outside from side to side, looking for the mysterious man. Was I just imagining things? Did I...just want to believe it was him? She turned around towards the kitchen, her heart still pounding with suspense and pain. I'd...better close down now...Jayden must be waiting for me to get back, he can't cook for himself...Lights that were lit inside the cafe blinked off suddenly, complete darkness would have filled the streets had it not been for the street lights illuminating the roads, now small drops of water sprinkled on it. Sara immediately turned around through the alleyway, only to be halted by a brick wall. Oh, that's strange, I could've sworn there was shortcut here...oh well...Swiveling around half way, she felt a hard object hit her head. With a silent thud to the moist ground, she collapsed to the floor. A towering and hulking figure stood above her fallen body. Muscular and large, the man would grin.

"Time to pay up for embarassing me at the cafe earlier, not so tough without your boyfriend huh?" The hulking man's hands began to reach for the fallen body when, suddenly, a light splashing could be heard, getting louder. He turned his head slightly, to see a form draped in the shadows. Only a red eye glaring out and white hair steeped in the blackness could be seen. His long coat would hang over, extending to the ground, like a raven's wings when they were folded snug around the body, waiting to attack the unwary."You want something? You want this woman huh? Well, you can't have her! She's mine!" The large man scoffed.

"..." Slowly, the figure steeped in shadows made slow steps towards the hulking man and the unconscious body. Rain started to hail from the black sky as if the heavens themselves were crying their hearts out. Water started to drop in heavy splashes on both figures.

"Don't come any closer if you want to live!" The man smirked, pulling out a gun from his waist holster.

"..." Still taking slow steps, the mysterious man seemed calm, still walking at the same pace despite the danger he was in.

"You must be deaf or something! Don't say I didn't warned you!" The larger man snarled through the night time sky and squeezed the trigger tightly. A loud bang, audible about a mile away, could be heard coming from the pistol in the man's hand. He couldn't tell whether blood was spurting out from the man's side, but the bullet seemed to have hit the man in the darkness. Water, drenched in blackness spurted out of the man's chest upon the firing, and yet he still walked calmly towards the large man as if nothing had happened. Seeing this, the large muscular man, once cocky and confident was now overcome with fear. His hand started to shake furiously, violently, while he stared through at that red eye which glared at him, which pierced his own soul with a thousand spears just from looking at it's gaze. Once again he would pull the trigger, two shots, three shots, until it clicked silently. "Y-you can't hurt me! Y-you'll be in a heap of trouble! You'll be a criminal! I'm part of the government parliament! S-stay b-back!" The claimed politician stuttered, falling to the ground and letting the pistol drop to the ground with a clank from it's metal.

"..." Beneath the darkness, that red eye of his averted it's gaze to the body on the ground, now soaked and drenched in the rain. Apparantly, the muscular man was too afraid to even stand up, remained on the ground and tensed his back against the brick wall.

"Y-you can t-take her! S-she's yours! J-just don't hurt me! Please!" The cowardice human stuttered with complete fear. Once again, the bloody eye turned it's glare towards the fear filled man who was scrambling against the wall of the alleyway. Walking calmly with a dark look on his shadow covered face, the enigmatic man swiftly and smoothly pulled out a knife, spinning it around his pale fingers. He held onto the knife in his closed palms, the blade curving upwards in a slick style and shining with fresh luster on it's glinting metal. Kneeling towards the fearful man, he pointed the small and sharp knife at the mans neck, skinning it across his neck, barely tracing a scratch. The man continued to tremble with fear and scrambled against the wall for dear life. In the moment of tension, the white haired man his hand and the knife fall to the side and stood up calmly. Still filled with fear, the large man squirming around let out a sigh of relief. What happened next was too fast to even comprehend. A pale hand grappled onto the man's collar and pulled him upwards with such force. Forced to stare into the depths of a bloody orb, the large man once again shrank into absolute fear. Immediately, the man clouded in blackness spun the knife around his fingers and jabbed it into the wall. A scream of death filled the air, but no one was there to hear, the streets empty, only rain and rippling water was there to welcome the death cry.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Old Friendship, New Dreams

Fresh clean air, sunlight that passed through the slits of the blinds on the window. Warm, white blanket sheets and white pillows would cushion her head. Her black hair sprawled across the pillow. The woman slowly opened her pale eyelids, revealing light blue orbs of purity to stare at the ceiling. A light breeze would brush against her smooth skin as she lay on the bed, blankets and pillows all ruffled about. She lay comfortably on the bed for awhile and decided to sit up, with eyes wide open.

"Oh, hey mom! Finally awake?" A teen male voice asked. Sara looked to her left, where the door to her bedroom was open and a boy could be seen. His messy short brown hair would hang down to the top of his eyes. He slid on a light blue dress shirt over his white shirt.

"Jayden? Where am I?" Sara remembered everything as far as the alleyway.

"Home." He stated, sliding one some shades over his eyes to block the bright sunlight which filtered through the blinds.

"How did I get here?" She asked, still a bit dazed.

"Some guy carried you here in the rain. You were unconscious, don't know why though." Jayden shrugged.

"A guy?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, he seemed pretty wierd. White hair, red eyes. I asked him what happened but he didn't answer me and just took off without a trace."

"White hair? Red eyes?" She repeated.

"Anyways, I promised Jen I'd go eat with her today, so see ya!" He waved, immediately running out of the doorway. Loud thumping and bumping could be heard as he made his way down the stairs. A slam indicated that he had gone out the door.

Sara crept down the stairs, only in a white blouse and a silver flowing dress. She took small rectangular device, black with many buttons and pointed it at the small television set, pressing the button which had the words, "ON" inscribed above it. The black box would flicker about with images as it revealed the news channel. A woman's voice would chime in within the television set.

"Robert Gorman, one of many government officials seemed to have been attacked just recently. Reports say that he was assaulted in an alleyway along Lakeside City. In the assault, his left arm seemed to have been severed by a knife. The victim said that he was defending a helpless woman from some strange man. Local police are on the look out for the man but there is no description what-so-ever. Apparantly, it was too dark to see the man..." In the images, a stretcher, carrying a large man writhing in pain, could be seen. The man was clutching his left side, screaming, yelling, doing anything possible to ease his pain.

_Hey, that was the same guy at the cafe! I wonder what happened to him._

"Scion!" The door would tremble and bang furiously as a muffled female voice screamed through it. "Scion!" Once more with the knocking. "Scion!" The door opened as a girl flailed her clenched fist at mid air and hit a tall man with white hair. His hair still messy from sleeping.

"What?" Scion groaned, rubbing his two eyes.

"You jerk! You took off without me!" The girl yelled into his face.

"Huh?" He asked, his eyelids still heavy.

"Don't huh me! First I look for you and find out your back at the base! Then I find out that you took off for another mission just to get a head start!" The girl flailed about.

"Beatrice...now where the hell did you hear that?" Scion gave a long, drawn-out yawn and stretched his limbs.

"Sir Vega told me that you told him that you wanted to get a headstart!" She snapped.

"I...did?" He raised an eyebrow and scratched his messy white hair.

"So he told me you left before telling me!"

"He did?"

"Your such a jerk! Why did I have to get assigned to a dimwitted captain like you!" She swiveled around on her feet and stormed away from the door, her hand clutching the side of the door and swinging it closed.

"W-wait! Beatrice-!" Scion stumbled as the door closed in with a hard thud followed by a crash in the wooden door and a muffled groan of pain.

"Ugh...Jen! Wait up! Jen!" Jayden looked over the stacked boxes, all decorated with various colors that he held in his hands. "Aw, crap! I lost her. Jeez...why did she have to buy so many things? Ahhhh, ahhh!" He staggered everywhere trying to gain his footing as the tower of boxes began to wobble in every sort of direction. "Maybe I should just sit down, and stay here!" The Raven stumbled backwards and gently placed all of the boxes beside the bench and fell backwards into the bench, resting his back against the wooden spine. With his rough hands, he rubbed his throat, feeling a bit parched and licked his dry lips. "Damn...thirsty...need water!" With those thirsty eyes of his, he glanced to a vending machine on the opposite side of the mall. Running as fast as his legs could push, he made a break for the vending machine when suddenly his head collided with something else, soft yet very hard. Jayden fell backwards with a hard thud on his behind while the shades on his face would be sent flying with him as well. Placing his hands on the white tiled floor, he groaned and tried getting back up on his feet. "Sorry about that," He spoke as he dusted himself off without looking at the person whom he bumped into. There was a moment of silence before an abrupt female voice would respond.

"...oh my god! Jayden!" The tone of the voice was of surprise.

"Hm?" He looked up, seeing a girl about his height with medium sun-gold hair. The hair on her left side would be hooked behind her ear. The tan on her skin wasn't noticable, it was average to say the least. She wore a dark green hoody, one of those zip up the middle with a pouch at the bottom ones. A white skirt that extended down to her knees held her legs in place. "Who are you?" He asked, racking his brain to see if he recognized her.

"It's me, Beatrice! Remember! We used to play together back when we were about six!" The girl smiled, leaning towards the surprised Raven.

"Beatrice! Holy crap!" He stared a long while, checking the girl over from head to toe, his thirst for water was gone but his lips still parched and dry, maybe even more now. A look of astonishment on his face. "You...you...you've changed...alot!" Jayden blushed a bit as his stare ended on her angel like smile. "You look...nice..."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? And I didn't look nice back then!" She put her small hands against her hips and smirked.

"Ah...no! That's not what I meant! I mean you look...nicer!" He stuttered as he staggered upwards, his stare not even lifting off the beautiful gold angel in front of him. Beatrice giggled softly, a melodious chorus filled the air as she did.

"Come on! Let's go to that table over there, have a nice chat. We've got a helluvalot to catch up on! Drink is on me!" She laughed, a she helped him with the boxes.

"Yeah, thanks for the help!" Standing up, he suddenly felt awkward. A sudden stinging pain, would stab at his head. It felt like a headache of some sort, nothing he had ever had, and it was so sudden that he hardly had time to adjust to it. Like a thousand needles making their way into his head, he suddenly felt nauscious and unstable with his footing.

"Jayden...are you okay?" Beatrice's smile turned into a worried face.

"Uhhhh...whose there?" He staggered back and forth, sideways, holding his head with both hands in a drunk manner.

"What?"

"I don't...feel so...well..." Almost like a tree being cut down by those chainsaws, Jayden fell forward without much resistance. Beatrice extended both arms to recieve the falling Raven.

"Jayden!" She would yell but the voice never made it's way to the intended person.

He would stand there, but where was there? Jayden stood in the middle of pure whiteness. Not a spec of dust or anything of any other color in sight. Nothingness surrounded him, only pure white would fill his gaze. He stared outwards and yelled, "Where am I? Is anyone there?" No answer, there was no one there as far as he could tell. Yet, somehow, a feeling would pull at him, not letting go, telling him there was someone behind him. Jayden swiveled around, expecting nothingness yet again. But, there was something. Something black and human. It's back stood facing him. The long black coat draped over the figure, the pitch black hair that fell to its neck would wave through the air. _But why? Theres no wind as far as I can feel!_ Jayden wondered to himself. The black figure shifted it's head a bit to the side so one of it's eyes could glance at Jayden, or more precisely glare at him. What Jayden could tell, was the black form was a man. But this man wasn't any ordinary man, for he had eyes of blood. Pure red irises that were shrouded in complete blackness. A scar, cross-shaped, zig zagged on his left cheek. The man was far away, but Jayden could see him clearly, unable to lift his eyes off of the man. The dark form smoothly and calmly stepped to the side, turning around to face the shocked Raven. As he did, his pitch black hair began to fade into a pure white, a phantom image. His cross-shaped scar began to fade away as well, his dark and rough skin turned to a pale and moon like shade. Now fully turned towards Jayden, the man's hair was pure white, but still remained pitch black from shadows that crawled on his hair. His black covered white hair would hang down to his neck and hid one of his eyes from view. That blood red eye still glaring at him with the same fervor, still hidden under the same darkness. But, there was no shadow, no cover to provide shade for his hair or his face...so, how could there be a shadow covering this man? Jayden would ponder on this mystery. What truly shocked Jayden was not the man's appearance, but how much he looked like Jayden. Aged a little, yes, but Jayden still felt like he was looking at a mirror. A dark reflection of himself when he would grow older. The man had a calm and emotionless expression on that shadow hidden face of his. "Wait! I remember you! Your the one who carried mom home!" He yelled but did not recieve any reply. In a calm motion, the mysterious man extended his pale hand which was also clothed with a pitch black sleeve. With the palm of his pale hand extending upwards as if waiting to recieve some gift from Jayden, he would face the wary Raven without so much of a sound or a hint of emtion on his face. _What does he want?_ Jayden stood, knees bent, poised to dodge any move the mysterious being might make. Suddenly, a purple swirl of dark aura, electrified around his arm making its way to his palm. A small dark energy started to gather in his hands, emitting an even darker light as it gathered energy from the writhing snakes of blackness that slivered around the man's arm. If there ever was a degree to which black could make someone go blind, this was the point. The energy started to glow so dark, that Jayden's eyes would hurt begin hurting. Covering his eyes with that red sleeve of his, the Raven would squint at the black light. In mere seconds, the blackness would fade away. Realizing this, Jayden put his arm to his side and tried to focus on the man once again, now an object was firmly gripped in his pale hand. A long object, which would end at a sharp point at the end. A large blade, smeared with a crimson design in it with several carvings engraved in it, would hang at the man's side. Jayden took a swift step back, his senses now keen and alert. Glancing nervously at the weapon in the man's hand Jayden could only panic inside his head._Crap! What's he gonna do?_ Only closing his eyes for a second the man had disappeared when he had re-opened them. Whiteness would surround him once again. He heard an abrupt whoosh through the air and stepped to his left, listening to his instincts. Just barely avoiding the slash, Jayden turned around to find himself face to face with his aged reflection once again. However, it wasn't long before he saw total blackness as the man had used the flat side of his crimson blade to hit Jayden on the side of the head.

_To think...that you hold even more power than me...and yet...you are drowned in emotions. How pathetic can one be...nevertheless, your time will come eventually..._


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer:Sorry for the long wait guys! A bit busy…but as you can see, I've been working on my fiction as well. Enjoy and thanks for all the reviews!

Chapter 12: The Break

The boy stirred a bit, his head laying on top of the table. He finally woke up from his slumber with a groan. He was quite groggy, his neck a bit stiff. "Your finally awake! Took you long enough." A feminine voice spoke to him.

"Huh?" He let off another groan and rubbed his eyes, "Oh...Beatrice..." His eyelids were still heavy upon his eyes, half closed.

"Have you been okay? You just collapsed in the middle of the mall." She said, a bit concerned about him with a worried look on her face.

"Wait! The man!" Jayden bolted upright suddenly, his eyes opened fully and glancing about.

"What man?" Beatrice asked raising an eyebrow.

"That man in the black coat! He looked like me...only a bit older..." He spun his head around to look for the man who appeared in his dream, or was it a dream? Perhaps a premonition?

"Jayden, as far as I can tell...there are a lot of men in the mall..." She spoke softly, still sitting down in front of the table.

"No, he was an odd one. You could tell him apart from a mile away! White hair, red eyes...and he had a sword too! I long sword! Red like blood...like his eyes..." His voice now lowered a bit as he thought about the appearance of the man.

"White hair?" Beatrice repeated, almost in a mumbling voice. It could be Scion...She thought to herself...but Scion doesn't have red eyes, or a sword...hell! He couldn't even use a sword to save his own neck!

"Yeah!" Jayden looked back at Beatrice.

"As far as I can tell...there was nobody who fit the description of the man your talking about...Jayden...have you been feeling alright?" Her slender and small hand would motion towards his forehead. He would stop the hand with his own hand as he firmly grasped her wrist.

"I-I'm fine...a lot of things have happened, that's all..." He said silently as he felt the warmth of her skin against his hand. The smooth texture of her skin would remind him of the old days when they used to play together. They stood there for awhile, his hand around her wrist.

"Uhhhh...Jayden?" A slight tint of red covered her cheeks.

"Yeah?" He snapped to attention.

"You can let go of my arm now..." She blushed even more after stating such a comment.

"Oh, sorry!" Jayden laughed nervously, "I guess it's the fact that I haven't seen you in such a long time eh?"

"Uh huh..." Beatrice said, now blushing a mad red. "That's for you, by the way." She pointed to the cup in front of him which lay on the table. The cup had a lid on it, medium sized and painted with red and blue plain colors with a straw sticking out of the lid.

"Hey, thanks! You always seem to read my mind...I was getting thirsty!" He sat himself down at the table and took a small slurp of his drink, it was coke.

She smiled softly, "No proble-!"

"Hey! What the hells going on here? Finally hitting on a guy, Beatrice?" An abrupt male voice interrupted her midway through her words. The voice was familiar, the type of familiar which annoyed her very much that she stood up and swiveled around with a clenched fist at her side. Beatrice knew what she would see when she turned around. A man with pure white hair, almost like snow in a messy disorder with emerald eyes who was dressed casually for the weather. Sure enough, there he was. The one who she pestered and whom pestered her in return with that calm air which surrounded him.

"Scion!" She glared at him straight in the green eyes. Scion would just stand there, laid back and smile.

"Never thought you were the type to hit on guys," Scion chuckled lightly.

The blush returned to her cheeks, more red than before. "M-me! Hitting on a guy? A-am not!" Scion scratched his forehead with his forefinger before replying calmly.

"Well, you never buy me a drink. So why the sudden change of heart on this guy?" He smirked once again. Jayden sat there, silent and out of the scene, averting his gaze here and there, from Beatrice to the newcomer Scion. He didn't know whether the two were just amusing or really wierd. Either way, he was suppressing the urge to smirk and laugh his head off at the squabble.

"T-this is different! J-jayden is an old friend of mine! We go back a long time! At least I have to show some courtesy after not seeing an old friend for so long!" She stuttered, now very flushed.

Scion folded his arms and screwed up his face just to show his amusement in the matter. "You wouldn't buy me a drink if you suddenly saw me again." He spoke, trying to imitate an innocent voice and formed an exaggerated frown on his face.

"Your not my friend! Your just some child in an adult's body who teaches me!" She spat out, her tone immediately changed from innocent and sweet to mad fury.

"Awwww, that hurts!" He said in a mocking manner.

Jayden hesitated for a moment before interfering with the heated up conversation, despite his own amusement. "Beatrice, don't you think you should tell me who this is?" He laughs.

"Oh...uhhhh...this is Scion...he's my captain...technically speaking of course!" Beatrice turned around to face Jayden again at the table, with the calm and angel like light on her face once again.

"Hey!" The captain raised his hand in a warm gesture of welcome.

"Scion..." She glared back at him momentarily, "This is Jayden Cypher. My child hood friend!" Through gritted teeth, she forced the last sentence out as if suppressing some urge, some force that tried to lunge out at Scion and stick a fork in his mouth. Scion didn't pay attention to her sudden aggression and completely laid back, spoke his mind.

"Hey, nice to meet ya, kid!" He laughed.

"Hey! You too!" Jayden also laughed. A small and silent beeping coming from the man's wrist rang through the air. Scion seemed suddenly alarmed by this and raised a navy blue sleeved arm. "Hm, that time already?" Dropping his hand down to his side, he smirked while he spoke, "We gotta go kid, but I'm sure we'll meet again sometime soon." The man walked away somewhere else. Jayden didn't really know, he was paying more attention to Beatrice.

"Errrr...what do you do anyways? You said he was your captain...so...are you in the military or something?" Jayden raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? You...could say that?" Her eyes averted towards the side, unable to make eye-to-eye contact with Jayden for some reason. "It's...a small group...just recently formed..." She said hesitantly. 

"Oh? What's the name?" He asked once again curious.

"We just formed so we really don't have a name..." Beatrice glanced from side to side, trying desperately to make up words and keep a calm pose as well. _I can't tell him! We're in Lakeside City! If I tell him, he might tell some Raven! I'd be in deep if that happened!_ Her mind panicked, thinking of ways to avoid the questions that might pop up from Jayden, her best friend.

"You gonna just stand there all day! Come on! We've got work to do!" The familiar abrupt voice yelled.

_Great timing! He's actually useful for once!_ Beatrice breathed with relief. "Sorry Jayden! I have to go! I'll talk to you later!" She waved with a smile and dashed off.

"Uh...bye?" Unsure, he stood there. She left without even recieving his gesture. He was relieved though, to have seen her, well and unharmed.

"You have got to be kidding me, kid!" A strong arm suddenly wrapped itself around Jaydens neck, trying to strangle him and yet giving him enough room to suck in air for his life. Jayden flailed his arms around, hitting a large body mass of some sort, larger than him at least. "Two-timing on Jen I see!" The voice laughed.

"Wraith! Stop that!" He cried in laughter as he felt the top of his head starting to burn as something scratched it fiercely and ruffled his hair. The strong arm loosened it's grip around his neck and eventually released him. Jayden stood back up and rubbed the top of his head, still throbbing with pain. "Ouch! That was harsh Wraith!" In front of Jayden stood a man, almost twice as big as he was, fairly muscular with the normal Raven jacket on him, a crew cut and a bandage on his nose.

"Kid, you have to shapen up! Grow a spine already!" A single tear would come out of the corner of Jayden's eye as he rubbed his head.

"That was a little overdoing it though..." He chuckled, still hurting.

Wraith chuckled in a low and rough voice, rubbed his small beard. "That was pay back for last time."

"Don't tell me your still mad at me for that! That was obviously a fluke how I won! Come on! You kick my anytime in an AC fight. Letting me win for once isn't so bad." Jayden pleaed innocently as he strolled over to the garbage bin and placed his drink container into the slot.

"I'm just playing with you, kid! Come on! Jen's waiting for you! Another mission, it's from the government this time." The muscular giant slapped Jayden on the back, forcing what seemed to be a choke and a cough out of him.

"Wait...your not going to..." Jayden glanced at his friend as Wraith slung his large arm around Jaydens small neck once again .

"Nah! Don't worry! I won't tell her about...your little secret...so...what's her name? How did you find her!" He asked, grinning and dragging Jayden by the feet out of the mall.

"Come on, Wraith! It's not what you think!" He laughed humored by Wraith's sudden interest.

"Sir! The power plant in Terra-!" Naomi dashed through the door with her brown hair tinted with a slight red swaying about.

"It's alright, I've sent Marneas to take care of things." The man with long blonde hair raised his gloved hand to silent the woman.

"Sir? Is Marneas really that great of choice? The enemy is using Nuclear Particle Weapons, it could seriously contaminate the area and anything in the vicinity." Naomi had a look of concern.

"Don't be too worried. Marneas isn't exactly any normal human." The man smirked amusingly.

"Sir?" She raised a furrowed eyebrow at him in curiosity.

"Marneas was an experimental Plus who we saved from one of Sphere's laboratories. They would constantly conduct terrifying research on him...god knows what they did to him in there. As a result, his cellular make-up was restructured. Most importantly, he can adapt to environments which are seriously contaminated with potent toxins. The restructuring of his cells also caused an increase in his regeneration rate, he can be hurt but he can never die from a blow." His voice hummed almost methodically, as if he had recited this ages before.

Naomi screwed up her face, "Oh...I see...so that's why..." She mumbled to herself, the look of concern disappeared which was quickly replaced by a face of sorrow. Her eyes would avert it's gaze towards the tiled ground. Then, something caught her attention. Her head jolted upwards, "But I've heard that's what the "Angel Reaper" went through! Does that make Marneas an equal to him?" The man grinned widely.

"The "Angel Reaper"...is different. The only thing human about him is his heart perhaps, still the same as always..." With his long blonde hair following him, the man would pace around, up and down the room while he spoke in his usual gruff voice, "...radiation from a certain incident caused a complete change in his cells. Rather than slowly heal himself, he can quickly cover up his wounds right on the spot. And the radiation also seemed to have affected him in many other ways. Heightened strength, speed and stamina. A result of an Naturally Born Plus at his limits being exposed to massive amounts of radiation." He stopped there.

"So...why not just send him in to deal with Sphere? Why all of us? Sir, I'm not questioning you! I believe that your resolve is better for the world. But if you have such a weapon capable of stopping Sphere then why not just use it?"

"Because...the "Angel Reaper" isn't really part of Zeal. He's just a friend of mine who helps every now and then as he pleases." He tilted his head and smirked.

"Huh? Then...why not ask him to join us? He can save so many people! Why does he choose to only do as he please!" Naomi was a bit confused. Confused if this "Angel Reaper" had enough humanity left in him to consider what he could do.

"We may consider it a miracle...but he seems to consider it a curse...or more in his words, an atonement."

In the complete darkness, stood a figure, his face looking upwards as if trying to detect some hint of the stars that never were there. His whole body and face covered in blackness as well. Eyes closed as if contemplating on something. _S...e...thhhhh..._A soft voice moaned through the man's mind. _S...e...thhhh..._Once again with the phantom like voice, echoeing in a canyon of darkness. _It's...time..._A gentle sound soothed the man's heart as he opened his red eyes to look past the darkness that lay in front of him.


End file.
